A Period Of Silence
by TempestDash
Summary: Kim and her new lover learn how their lives have and must change in order to be with each other and discover that while they may be lovers, they don't yet 'love' each other. KIGO
1. Spark

--

A plane soared through the evening sky, scarring the murky blue-red emptiness with streaks of white clouds. At its altitude, tens of thousands of feet above the earth, it seemed like a lone white bird, lost within a sea of azure marbles, glittering in the twilight.

Within the bird, soft lips pursed slowly and stared at the dollops of clouds below, like scattered piles of whipped cream, spooned carefully in places upon the earth. Each white cloud billowed gently and looked delicious enough to eat, promising a sweet but quickly vanishing taste to the gods who would be big enough to partake.

Kim Possible, turned away from the window, running her tongue once quickly over her lips to moisten them, and stared at the woman to her right. The girl immediately was taken with her delicately crafted beauty. Her strong profile was intricately softened by her flowing dark hair that spilled playfully around her waist and pooled by her sides. She was casually reading a magazine, her bare fingers slipping gracefully down the page as her eyes scanned an article on dresses being worn at the next Oscars. The glossy page bowed slightly under the pressure until the soft pads of her index reached the worn corner, slid immediately beneath, and flipped it over to begin the dance again.

Suddenly aware of the attention upon her, the raven haired woman turned slightly, smoothly arching her brow, and tilted her head just slightly.

"What?" she asked plainly, blissfully unaware of the absent minded waltz of her fingers.

Kim opened her mouth to reply but felt it suddenly go dry as the desert. "Nothing," she croaked softly then swallowed.

"Are you bored, or something?" replied her companion, closing the magazine and slipping it into the pocket of the seat in front of her, never once taking her eyes off of Kim.

"No, it's not that," dismissed Kim, finding moisture back on her lips again. She looked around as discreetly as she could, noting the mostly unconscious forms of the other passengers on the sizable plane before leaning closer to the woman. "Shego, are we ..." she paused to consider the best way to phrase her question. "Are we dating?" she asked, finally.

The woman, Shego, blinked then looked ahead suddenly, crossing her legs in the cramped space. "We're going to one of my favorite beach spots to relax," she replied, a little more forcefully than intended.

"Yes, I know," said Kim, glancing to the side. "But given--" she hesitated.

"Given what happened two weeks ago?" Shego interrupted, finished.

Kim started to nod. "Yes, that. And last weekend. And Thursday night."

"I get the point," Shego shook her head then stared off silently.

A few minutes passed. "I just wanted to kno--" started Kim.

"Well, that's great for you," snapped Shego. A few other passengers around them stirred and Shego forced herself to lower her voice. "Maybe I haven't figured it out yet."

Kim blinked. "I thought you were waiting for me before."

"I don't wait for anyone, Princess." Shego crossed her arms and then muttered something.

"What was that?" asked Kim.

"Nothing," Shego shook her head. "Listen, I don't know why everything has to be labeled with you. We partied together before without all this talk."

"That's... true," Kim said, then softly continued. "But you weren't sharing my bed before."

"Speaking of which," Shego quickly supplied. "You gotta move out or something."

"What? Why?"

Sighing, Shego leaned back into her seat. "Looking out for your roommate all the time is a real pain. It's a good thing she has an active nightlife."

"I can't move out on Beth!" Kim yelled a little louder than she intended.

"Well, it's not like I can get a place," returned Shego. "Skipping past border patrol, airport security, and even GJ is easy. Credit checks, though? Way too thorough."

Kim boggled. "That is ... bizarre."

"Just get it out of your mind," Shego looked Kim out of the side of her eye. "We're enemies, who just don't happen to fight all the time."

"And who sleep together." Kim lowered her voice, trying to be discreet this time. She was afraid that their conversation was starting to attract attention in the close quarters of the passenger jet.

"That's..." the dark haired woman trailed off and looked away.

Kim sighed silently, frustrated that the conversation had become immediately an argument. Maybe they were only enemies.

"It's just," Shego said suddenly, surprising the redhead. "Dating implies all that procedure and formality crap that your old high school seemed to be filled with. Gifts, and timed calls, candy, 1-month anniversaries, trips to places you'd rather not go -- meeting families." She looked back at Kim. "You know, the boring parts of being with someone."

The Possible girl paused and digested that. "Well, we could say we're dating and just agree not to do any of that stuff."

"Why is this so important to you?"

"I'm confused why you're suddenly being stingy," replied Kim. "When this all started, you didn't care what a soul in the world thought, and now you're worried about calling me a girlfriend."

"First off, 'stingy?' Okay, when did you become forty years old?" Shego frowned. "Second, as long as we're talking about reversals, what about you?"

"Me?" asked Kim, incredulously.

"Yeah, you! You were the one who turned me away that first morning, even after my casual attitude. Then, suddenly you come back all hot and bothered a week later. What happened to change your mind? You snog that roommate of yours and decide it was cool?"

Kim tossed discreet to the wind. "Beth? I would never!"

"Are you sure?" sneered Shego. "Next week you might change your mind."

"Shego!" Kim warned, gritting her teeth.

"Bring it, Princess," snapped Shego, her hands becoming like claws as green energy crackled along the skin.

"LADIES!"

The two feuding women paused, realization setting in that they were still on an airplane, and turned slightly to find the source of the single word. A flight attendant looked down, dressed in a grey suit with a pair of metal wings pinned to the lapel. The man looked as if he was going back and forth between trying to appear authoritative and fearing for his life at the impending conflict. Authority finally won out as both women stared at him curiously.

"Please, you cannot fight in here. Can you hold off your argument until after we land?" The attendant motioned towards the back of the plane. "If you need, I can relocate one of you to an empty seat in--"

"Fine," Shego interrupted and stood. Grabbing the magazine she was reading she stalked past the attendant and started moving towards the back of the plane.

Shaking slightly, the man bowed his head slightly. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, then turned to follow Shego. Kim followed the two with her eyes, frowning deeply but no longer clenching her teeth.

"What the hell was I thinking?" Kim mused aloud, turning back to sit properly in her seat. "We're never going to get along on this trip, I should just go back."

Folding her arms across her chest, Kim turned to stare out the window again, and noticed the fluffy clouds had since thinned to an expansive covering, hiding the earth from view.

--

Kim stared in awe of the hotel before. It was a grand structure, probably built no more than a year ago, eight stories tall and flush to the nines with style and expensive taste. The _Casa Del Grande Sol_ was all that Kim had been told by Shego when they left for this trip, and now, staring at the coastline hotel, she wished that she'd at least faked contentment during the flight to make up for the massive expense three nights here would cost.

Then again, as the jaded side of Kim's mind kicked in, Shego didn't actually earn any of the money she had, what wasn't stolen was given to her by the many villains she'd worked for. In fact, even by going on this trip, Kim was, in a way, accepting stolen money, which suddenly gave her the chills. What if someone found out? Does GJ keep track of these things?

"Come on, princess," Shego suddenly said from behind Kim. She had just paid the taxi driver Kim took, despite the fact they had argued again in the airport and decided to take separate taxis to the hotel. Kim felt guilty for not having paid earlier, but steeled herself against showing it and giving Shego the satisfaction. "Stop gawking and let's go in," Shego continued to mumble as she slipped past the redhead.

Kim sighed. This was supposed to have been a relaxing weekend. Picking up her bags, she followed silently behind Shego up to the front desk where the latter quickly checked in and was given a set of keys.

Just before she turned to follow Shego to the elevators, she caught a strange look from the desk attendant, who was a young, blonde Asian woman named 'Nami.' Curious, but more interested in ditching her luggage, Kim shrugged it off and continued on.

Once they were at the door to their 7th floor room, Shego handed over one of the two keycards she'd been given. "Here," she said simply. "I'm going down to the beach."

Kim frowned as Shego dropped her bag, pulled out a small bikini swimsuit and headed for the door. A hundred things ran through Kim's mind at once. She thought of every moment she'd spent with Shego since the mysterious thief showed up on her campus one afternoon. She thought of every conversation, and every look. Then she thought of their fights throughout high school, the traded punches, the wins and losses, the insults and embarrassments.

Kim had had these thoughts before, after that first night with Shego two weeks ago. She'd considered all of these visions, these versions of Shego she'd been exposed to over the last six years. She had told her roommate, Beth, on that day that getting involved with Shego was "just not that easy." But it was, ultimately. She decided to accept the person that was Shego, regardless of what persona she was displaying. It should have been simple.

But then she'd fallen back into arguing with her this morning, just like they used to do back in high school. It wasn't as simple as she'd hoped, but a Possible never does anything halfway.

"I'm sorry," Kim blurted, just as Shego was moving through the door to the hall.

The green thief paused, becoming still as a statue for several moments before slightly tilting her head down and proceeding out the door.

--

"Dammit, what does she expect from me?" Shego yelled aloud once her frustration finally peaked.

She was lying back on a beach recliner, slowly baking under the perfect sun while catching a gentle breeze coming off the waves. It was ideal sunbathing conditions, and yet she couldn't seem to relax. As each second passed in agonizing tension, Shego's temper rose another degree until she had to scream or do something that would probably get her banned from her favorite beach spot in the west.

The most annoying part about the whole situation was that she should have predicted this was going to happen. Even before she and Kim had... before two weeks ago she had begun to feel inexplicably connected to Kim Possible. All of a sudden she had realized that Kim's opinions remained in Shego's mind where there should only have been her own thoughts. She wasn't naïve. She knew that she was a very self centered person and had been perfectly fine with the assessment. Actually giving weight to the opinion of another felt to her almost like a death toll.

When they did eventually have sex, Shego'd been relieved. But not for the expected reason. She was relieved because she could blame her changing feelings on attraction. Lesbian or straight didn't weigh too heavily in Shego's mind, although she'd previously considered herself to be heterosexual. If she was attracted enough to someone to desire sex, then, sure, she'd probably pay more attention to what they were saying.

But deep down, Shego knew, now as well as then, that it was something else. She cared about Kim's opinion, even her feelings, which was one of the reasons she was feeling inexplicably guilty right now. Beyond that, however, there were other signs of trouble. Just the other day Shego had been walking around the city near Kim's campus and actually helped an old woman carry a heavy box to her car. She couldn't even figure out at the time why she had done it, as it didn't provide her any advantage. Even her own thievery, which had always brought her joy, she'd gone almost completely without in the last year.

Shego didn't want to admit it, but her feelings towards the world were changing, and what had always seemed like her life calling was starting to appear... petty. She was rich now, after all, there was little that could ever happen to her that would leave her needing cash. Why steal more if she didn't have to? Just a few years ago she'd easily say, "Because it's fun!" Now... wasn't there something more constructive she could do?

"Excuse me?" a light voice flitted on the wind. Shego almost recognized it and turned to see who had approached her recliner.

"I'm sorry to bother you, Ms. Shego," said Nami, the asian desk attendant from earlier.

"It's just Shego," replied the thief.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Nami apologized again. "Um, you were the one who checked in with Kim Possible, right?"

This didn't sound like it was going to go anywhere good. Shego settled back into her recliner. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh," Nami said, then proceeded to loiter around for another minute.

"If there's nothing else..." started Shego, but she didn't get to finish.

"If -- If you happen to see her, though, could you pass a message along for me?" the desk attendant suddenly said.

Shego rolled her eyes. This whole weekend has gone straight through the floor and deep into hell. "What?" snapped Shego.

"We've been having a problem the last few days," explained Nami. "With a thief. I just was wondering if she could help."

"Yeah, whatever," the dark haired guest waved the attendant off. "If I happen to see someone I don't know, I'll maybe tell he you want to use her."

"That's not..." started Nami, then trailed off. "Thank you." She turned abruptly, kicking up a bit of sand, then scurried back to the hotel.

"My god," Shego crowed. "Doesn't Belize have their own police around here? It's not like Kim has an excellent track record with thieves either, if I'm any example. There's a reason why they have that saying, 'To catch a thief--"

She paused. Then she turned to look back after the petite woman shuffling up the beach towards the hotel. "Hmm."

--

"Alright, lay it on me," Shego said, stepping up to the concierge in the hotel. She was still in her green-black bikini bathing suit with her beige towel hung over her shoulder and staring at the suddenly nervous Nami through a pair of black sunglasses.

"Excuse me?" the smaller Asian girl said.

"The whole bit," shrugged Shego. "Whatever it was you wanted Kim to do for you."

"She agreed to help?" Her shaky exterior melted in favor of enthusiasm. Shego felt sick. Kimmy fangirls. What a crazy world she lived in.

"Er, yeah." Shego nodded reassuringly. "She told me to find out what I could from you and we'll take it from there. No big." She cringed internally as she spoke the last two words. She wasn't spending that much time around Kim, how the hell did she pick up her mannerisms.

Nami smiled and pulled out a thin blue binder and put it on the counter. "This is everything on the thefts and the guests who were stolen from. It was all very low profile around here, I'm sure it wasn't reported in America."

"It doesn't matter," said Shego opening the binder. "I don't read the US papers anyway." She paged briefly though the sheets. It looked like there were about a dozen stolen items in the last month, all from very rich guests. The brief profiles on the guests indicated their wealth but the names also looked familiar to Shego. She'd considered stealing from these folk before, though she'd never do it at her favorite beach. Paradise was supposed to remain pure. Now someone was staining it with crimes that, if they kept up, would undoubtedly bring attention to Shego's own frequent presence.

Scratching her head, Shego lifted her glasses and ran her emerald eyes over the list of names again. They were defiantly familiar. All were very likely targets for a thief of average-to-modest skill: very rich, boisterous, high profile targets. The personality of these high rollers would prevent them from ever publicly announcing their loss at the risk of appearing weak or careless.

There was a reason Shego hadn't eventually followed through with these minor celebrities, though. She wracked her brain trying to recall. There was definitely a list with all these names on it. She remembered that. There was also an agreement, though. A deal that she made that included a 'hands-off' policy for these names. Aside from Drakken, though, who else had Shego made a bargain with?

"Hey, lady," Shego said, snapping her head up to look at Nami. The dark haired guest pointed at the first page in the book. "I wanna see the guest list for the hotel the day before this theft."

Nami's eyes widened. "I -- I can't do that, it's against policy."

"Yeah? I imagine so's hiring out mercenaries to solve your little thievery problem." Shego leaned on the counter and looked sideways at the attendant. "I give me the list."

"I never offered any payment for your services," commented Nami quietly.

"Which is why you should do what you can to remain on my good side." Shego pointed again. "The guest list on this day, and maybe I'll find you your sneaky thief."

The blonde Asian girl sighed and typed on her computer out of Shego's sight. "Please don't tell anyone I gave you this," the girl said before printing out several pages and handed them over."

Shego's eyes quickly scanned the top page, finding very little else that caught her eye, except that those two famous Agony County stars had checked in together last month. Kimmy hadn't believed it when Shego said they had totally hooked up earlier in the year. Now she had proof. Just... not the proof she was looking. Shego turned the page.

And paused. "Of course," she said, slapping her forehead. "How could I forget? That was hardly an unmemorable experience."

"You found him?" asked Nami, excited again.

"Well, maybe," said Shego, folding up the guest list and sticking it in her bikini top. "I've definitely got a pair of prime suspects though."

"Who?"

--

Kim walked quickly down the beach for the third time, dressed in a white bikini top with a twist in the middle and a lime green stole tied around her waist. The white sand was beautiful and the sun was just the right temperature for some serious sunbathing, but Kim hadn't come down here for that.

Reaching the wharf, she hung her head and turned around again. Three times she'd been up and down the beach and no sign of Shego anywhere. She said she was going to the beach but Kim had to acknowledge that she didn't say _which_ beach. Still, it would have been nice of her to have left some clue, just in case Kim wanted to talk things out, like she wanted to right now. Instead, Kim could only think that their weekend in paradise had taken a radical downturn.

"Where are you?" Kim mused aloud, getting frustrated. For years Kim couldn't get a day's rest without some manic plan from Drakken and Shego, butting themselves into her life on a weekly basis. While that sort of fun hadn't been realized for years now, at least Shego's frequent visitation made it all seem not so long ago. Standing on beach alone, however, Kim wondered what she'd do if Shego disappeared forever.

Resigning herself to waiting, Kim headed back into the Hotel to make sure Shego hadn't gone back to their room.

"Oh, Ms. Possible," a voice called to Kim as she reached the lobby elevators. She turned to see the blonde desk attendant that had given her strange looks earlier in the day.

"Hi," said Kim, awkwardly.

"I thought you had left with Ms... er-- with Shego," the attendant said, half-smiling.

"Left?" asked Kim. Her mind spun. "She checked out?"

"No," the woman tilted her head. "She left to talk to those guys who might be the thieves. I thought you were with her. She said you were working together."

"Thieves? Working? All right, let's start from the top." Kim took a deep breath. "Who are you again?"

The woman immediately bowed slightly. "My name is Nami Osagira, Ms. Possible."

"Please, call me Kim," Kim said instinctually. "Now, what's this about thieves?"

"I asked Shego to help me find a thief that had been stealing from our guests all month. She said she would help and left to investigate some former guests she felt were responsible."

Kim wondered what this woman's idea of 'beginning' was. "Why did you ask Shego, of all people, to help you? She's a criminal, you know?"

Nami froze. "She... is?" Kim nodded. "I-- but... why are you with her then?"

Kim blushed. "We're..." She trailed off and went silent for a few moments. "She and I are... That's not important right now. Did Shego say who she was going to interrogate?"

Nami nodded. "Oh yes. She said she should have thought of it earlier. The names were very strange though."

"Strange?" Kim tried to think who was likely but realized that described just about all her enemies. "Was it Dr. Drakken? Prof. Dementor? Frugal Lucre?"

"No," the blonde thought for a moment. "It was kinda like Catch-22."

"Catch-22?" Kim considered that for a second then realized. "Ohh."

--

Senior Senior Junior looked down at the chained form of Shego before him. She was struggling ever so slightly against the strange black chains while sitting on a well crafted iron chair on his patio. She probably figured he hadn't noticed yet. She'd arrived earlier at his private villa in Central America through a skylight rather than the door, and Junior figured it wasn't for old time's sake. Thankfully he'd had security not only well improved, but well hidden, and noticed the green thief's arrival long before her entry.

Smoothing the fabric across his well tailored white suit, he stood from the table and brought a pitcher of water and a glass over to his captive.

"Care for a drink, Shego?" he asked, politely.

Shego looked at the offering uneasily. "Still following the old man's rulebook for treating prisoners?"

Junior stood still for a few seconds more, then poured the glass and sat on the table facing Shego, sipping the water briefly. "The rulebook was more for posturing before heroes than other villains, so it doesn't really apply here. But no, I have long since shucked his desire for movie dramatics in favor of more sophisticated approach."

Shego frowned. "Apparently." She looked around the villa. "You're not the same immature brat I taught how to steal."

Junior smiled with delight for a second, then forcibly straightened his mouth and returned to his conservative demeanor. "I have had much time to mature from then." He walked around Shego's chair and examined her traditional black and green suit. "I see you've changed very little in the past three years, however."

"Eh," Shego shrugged in her binds. "I stick with what works."

"Except," Junior raised a finger. "I haven't heard anything about you in quite a while either. You always loved your face on the news, but it's been at least a year since anyone's heard anything from you."

"Maybe I'm just that good," grinned Shego. She began moving slightly differently. Junior supposed she was making another effort to free herself.

"It won't do you any good," said Junior, raising his eyebrows. "Those chains were specifically designed to contain you. Father designed them, before..." he trailed off.

Shego looked away, frowning. "He always was jealous of me," she mused. "He didn't deserve what--"

"It doesn't matter," said Junior, suddenly standing. "It's in the past and we don't need to think about it." He breathed. "I doubt you gave it a second thought afterwards. Or Possible for that matter." After a moment, he put the glass down and moved off the patio, disappearing into the house.

Minutes later, he returned, carrying a wooden box with a simple brass lock in his hands. He set it on the table and quietly inserted a key into the hole, turning it to illicit a simple click. Slipping the key back into his pocket he turned back to Shego.

"No, I don't believe that you just haven't been seen," he said. "You haven't done anything really criminal since Drakken's last failure against the Possible Anti-Criminal Team." He opened the box, revealing a pile of pictures and paper and a sizable velvet pouch. Junior ignored the cloth and lifted the papers. "Aside from your prodigious use of false IDs to keep the police from finding you, you've been a model citizen." He laid out several pictures, apparently of Shego. "I've been watching."

Shego looked nervously on. "I don't suppose you saw where I lost my keys last week, I couldn't find them."

Junior looked stoically back at the thief but said nothing.

"All right, so I've been a little remiss in my thievery," said Shego, getting agitated. "How the hell is it your business? Dying for some hobbies or something?"

Junior chuckled slightly. "Actually, I have been," he admitted. "Running the remains of my father's corporate empire after his... well, it's actually quite boring." He reached into the wooden chest and pulled out the velvet bag, playing with it in his hands. "Although, surprisingly, the company is involved in a very large number of illegal activities that a solitary thief like you could probably never do. But it's all behind paper, all I get are reports and summaries. There's nothing I do but sign the work orders."

"Poor you," Shego said snidely. "I can only imagine the difficulties of running an international corporation." She rolled her eyes dramatically.

"You don't have to, you know."

Shego looked back at Junior. "_What_?"

Junior looked down for a moment, then came over to sit beside Shego, pulling over a chair. "Come work with me," he said softly. "I know I asked you before and you declined but... things are different now. I'm different. The world is different." He thought for a moment. "Even Kim Possible is different."

Shego furrowed her brow. "I'm not really into corporate life."

"Neither am I," said Junior, excitedly. "But together we could use the finances of my company to bankroll any crime you want! We could steal the crown jewels -- the ones in the _real_ Tower of London -- dominate a country, or hold the world hostage!"

Junior was vibrating with excitement but couldn't help but notice Shego's lack of enthusiasm. He forced himself to breath slowly then turned his scowl at his prisoner.

"What is it that you want?" he said angrily and jumped to his feet. "I know you! You want power, money, and control." He turned over a finger for each item then clenched them into a fist. "I can give you them all! What else is there?"

Shego slowly rose her eyes up to look at Junior but paused midway through. She raised her brows suddenly. "Kim," she said, almost in awe.

"She could be you SLAVE," replied Junior. "I'll have her bowing at your feet if that's what it will take."

"I really doubt you could do that," said an angry voice from behind Junior. His eyes widened and he quickly spun on his foot and stared, his mouth slack.

"Kim Possible," said Senior Senior Junior, his composure suddenly failing. "Is it... Are you the real Kim Possible?"

"As real as can be," said Kim, moving her hands to her hips. "Senior Senior Junior. Even after all this time, you're still obsessed with the superficial."

"I'm far more than I was," said Junior, darkening. "I can thank you for that."

"Prove it," said Kim. She eyed him carefully. "Walk away."

Junior stared back at her, challenging her with his steadily accumulating willpower. His teeth grit behind his lips, eyes narrowing to thin slits, and his face became stone, just like his father used to ...

He relaxed suddenly and the tension drained out of his figure. Kim stared on, unflinching, but Junior refused to put up any more fight. Turning away from Kim he looked at Shego, who's eyes were transfixed on Kim but she spared a glance in Junior's direction.

"There's nothing more that can be salvaged from here," he concluded. "Feel free to escape now, Shego."

Shego blinked and stared at Junior now. Her surprise quickly faded and she closed her eyes. The sound of sizzling accompanied by the rustle of metal followed and Shego was standing beside the pile of metal links and slag. Junior held out the velvet pouch to her as she looked at him curiously.

"Take it," he said. "Give it to the hotel; tell them you caught the thief. I won't cause any more trouble for them."

Shego gently took the bag but hesitated before walking away. She looked at him, slightly frowning, but not angry. "We've all changed," she nodded. "Just like you said. Neither of us may know our place now, but that doesn't mean we're lost."

Shego walked over to Kim who had softened her expression. Kim nodded with a half smile and started to turn towards the door, then stopped and looked back to Junior. "I'm sorry about your father," she said suddenly. "I never would have left them in charge if I knew that would happen."

Junior blinked then nodded, solemnly. Kim looked down, then silently padded out with Shego in tow.

--

Kim and Shego tromped silently back from Junior's expansive villa, neither one spending much time looking at the other and instead focusing their energies on examining the path they were on. Shego's jumpsuit was starting to feel more than a little hot and she wished she hadn't changed out of her bikini from earlier. Stealing a glance at Kim, she envied the younger girl for her simple bikini top and green wrap-around that danced playfully around her shapely, tanned legs.

Not that Shego was staring, or anything.

"How did you get here?" Kim asked, breaking the long silence.

"Jeep," said Shego, continuing to not stare at Kim's thighs that occasionally peeked through the wrap as she strode forward.

"Stolen?" asked Kim, hesitantly.

"Rented," admitted Shego. "How about you?"

"Borrowed our nosy concierge's car," said Kim. Then added, "With her permission, of course."

"Of course."

They walked a few minutes more.

"Shego?" asked the younger woman.

"Yes?" Shego was doing a rather effective job at not noticing Kim's bare midriff when she had to raise her eyes to step over a log that had fallen over the path.

"Would it help your staring if I just got naked?"

"Yes, definitely," Shego replied, then looked up to see Kim's face. "Would you?"

Kim smiled and couldn't stop herself from giggling slightly. Shego found it to be contagious and had a hard time containing her own laughter. Eventually the two gave in to the struggle and laughed together, allowing the stress of the day to finally wash aside. They finally continued walking, but their giggles lasted for several minutes more.

"You know, I'm surprised at what you did back there," Shego quelled her laughter enough to say.

"How so?"

"You didn't even throw a punch," she pointed out. "When I saw you I thought you were going to rip Junior a new one."

"I considered it, actually," nodded Kim. "When I saw you chained up... but I didn't want to go back there, to my past I mean. As successful as I was in high school, there were probably better ways to handle things other than fighting it out." Kim looked to the sky, studying the dimming blues above streaks of white near the tree line. "My parents are geniuses. I mean, dad's a rocket scientist. He's a living analogy to intelligence! Mom's a neurologist. The Tweebs skipped through public schooling and are about to enroll at Carnegie Mellon. What have I got?"

Kim sighed. "One of dozens of students who received honor roll all though high school. My name on a modest scholarship to Liberal Arts University. And a history of having won most fist fights I've been in." Kim looked to Shego who was being remarkably attentive. "And the desk server at the hotel remembers me because of the last one."

Shego raised a brow. "You know, comments like that are the reason why I call you 'Princess.'"

Kim nodded. "I know. I have nothing to complain about."

"I didn't say that," warned Shego.

"What about your parents?" asked Kim. "What legacy do you have to live up to?"

Shego's expression darkened and she shook her head. "They were corrupt beings whose own depravity far exceeds any of my 'crimes.'" She looked lost in thought for a moment. "They died when I was young, and I only wish their impact on my life ended there. But, we're not going to talk about them."

"I... didn't know." Kim looked to the side. "We've never really talked about ourselves, have we?"

"It's not my favorite topic," admitted Shego.

"I just figure everyone knows everything already," chimed Kim.

They turned towards one another and stared. They'd looked at one another many times before. As strangers, they stood on opposite sides of a crime, and knew one another immediately as enemies. As enemies, they knew each other's weaknesses and strength, methods of subversion and manipulation. As friends, years later when Shego came to Kim's school, they saw each other as contemporaries, survivors of the 'old days' and talked of past battles. As lovers, they saw each other's flesh and form, the curve of perfection, each smell and taste incorporated into a complex weave of desire.

But now, as they stared, stripped bare of pretext, they saw one another as if strangers once more. Kim shivered involuntarily at the thought and watched with horror as she saw resignation in Shego's sigh.

"I don't love you," Shego eventually said.

Kim flinched without realizing it but Shego steeled herself from reacting. Without anywhere else to go, Shego pressed on. "I can't... let you think that this is some romance between soulmates. On that day, two weeks ago, I wasn't looking for a girlfriend I was... I was hoping for friends with benefits. We're adults, and, we have to face facts. We're not dating. We're fucking."

Shego's body felt like lead as she tried to turn her face away from Kim's form but found it almost impossible. Kim, apparently unburdened by the same suddenly stiff body, looked down to the path and breathed slowly. Each breath was like agony for Shego who couldn't make herself leave but didn't want to hear whatever was to come next. She knew Kim Possible, and some things she just didn't take well.

"Are you okay?" Shego managed to move her leaden mouth enough to ask after several minutes. "What do you want to do?"

In her mind, Kim had a plethora of responses to that question: I want to attack you. I want to scream to the heavens. I want to run from here as fast as I can and hope not to be found. I want to stop the pain in my chest in anyway possible. I want to stop being so easily fooled. I want to beat on Junior for putting us in this situation. I want to have control over who I have feelings for at least once. I want to...

I want to...

I want to be more like my parents.

And suddenly, the pain didn't seem as bad.

"Why did you go after Junior today?" Kim asked.

"Why?" Shego said, confused. "The desk attendant asked me to."

"No, she asked you to ask me." The younger redhead gently shook her head and then looked straight into Shego's eyes, not with anger or resentment or force, but something different. Something softer. "Why did you go yourself without telling me?"

"Because..." Shego furrowed her brow. "Because I know you don't like the attention. You said it once before, when we were clubbing, that you didn't like being reminded of everything you did in high school. I figured you wouldn't have to bother if I took care of the problem quietly. Also, if I'm any example, you're terrible at catching thieves."

"But we were fighting this morning," said Kim, ignoring the last jab. "You were angry with me. You could have done anything you wanted. Why do something to make me feel better?"

"I ... care about your well being." Shego frowned. "I don't want you getting hurt. But that doesn't mean--"

"Why was it hard to tell me just now that you didn't love me?"

Shego blinked in shock. "Because... I was worried it would hurt you."

"But you must have been hurting trying to say it?" asked Kim.

"Of course," blurted Shego. She was getting annoyed at the 20 questions. "But it would hurt you more in the long run if I didn't love you."

Kim raised her brow. "If?" Shego looked away stubbornly, then hung her head.

"I'm not dating material, Kim."

Kim stepped forward slowly and then took Shego's hands into her own. "When you're not around, I want to see you. When you here, I want to make you happy. When you're sad, I feel like I have to be there for you. And when you're naked, you're as beautiful as an angel upon the earth." Kim looked deeply into Shego's eyes. "I don't know how you feel about me, and we've only been close... I mean, really close, for a short time now. I probably can't say I love you either."

Shego's eyes widened as Kim continued. "But I want to find out if I do. I think that's what dating is supposed to be about. Even after six years, we're still strangers in a way to each other." Kim smiled slightly. "I want to see if we can find out a bit more before we decide to quit."

"It probably won't work out," Shego said, softly.

"Maybe," Kim said. "But you have never been a person to stop because something 'probably' wouldn't work, have you?"

Shego reluctantly smiled and shook her head. "No."

--

Shego dropped the purple velvet pouch onto the desk without ceremony while Kim called the elevator in the lobby. Nami, who had stayed overtime to make sure everything went smoothly, squealed in delight.

"Thank you!" she said. "You even got all the merchandise returned."

"Yeah, whatever," Shego waved her off, disinterested. "Don't worry about the thief too; he's been taken care of. You shouldn't have any more trouble."

Nami quickly placed the bag in a hidden vault in the desk and then quickly stood up properly.

"There is one matter, however," Shego continued. "Please don't mention we were here. We'd like to vacation in the future without much world-threatening trouble."

"Of course," the attendant said quickly. "I'll not mention a thing."

Shego frowned but nodded anyway. When she reached the elevators, Kim was already holding one open.

"I give it two days," Shego said, stepping onto the elevator. "After that, you'll have every reporter on the gulf here looking for you."

"I'm not that big," said Kim, modestly. "I never get troubled at school anymore."

"Well, some of that is my fault."

Kim blinked. "What? How?"

"Ever since I started coming around I've had to take extra efforts to remain unseen. The Feds have really stepped up their pursuit of any 'terror-related criminals and accomplices,' which means they probably have a bounty on my head by now." Shego shrugged. "Your school doesn't actually get to report as much as they think they do, in any case."

"Woah woah," said Kim holding up her hands. "I want to hear this."

"Sorry, pumpkin. Trade secrets."

"The hell they are!" said Kim. "Spill it."

Shego smiled evilly. "You'll have to do better than that. I've resisted several forms of torture in my life. Forceful words are hardly anything new."

Kim stepped up to Shego. Unable to intimidate with her size she tried to use her determination. "What kinds of torture?" she said.

"Oh, you know, lots," dismissed Shego, still grinning. "If you want to know anything, you've got your work cut out for you."

Kim reached for the panel and pulled the emergency stop toggle. A muffled sounding alarm sounded as the elevator jerked to a half. "I know a few techniques." She looked at Shego with a hungry look in her eyes.

"You'll have to show me," said Shego, starting to appear a little flushed. "I'll tell you if done it before."

"Oh, some are Possible originals," assured Kim, stepping even closer to the raven-haired woman.

Shego looked at Kim's advancing form and said, "Prove it."

Kim closed the last of the distance, placing the two women close enough that their bodies were touching. "It will be our pleasure," muttered the former cheerleader and world savior before succumbing to what her mind had been playing out for the last hour.

--


	2. Reciprocity

Author's Notes: I don't have a plan, really, so expect a few twists and turns. And if you have a few minutes, please, drop me a line! I love to hear from readers:)

Oh, this is considered a FIRST DRAFT. There are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. So, please excuse the mess, we're cleaning it up.

_7-7-07 EDIT: I removed the "END" at the close of this chapter because it was confusing. There is more to come in this series, I never meant to imply otherwise._

----------------

Disney's Kim Possible in

**A Period of Silence**

By Adam Leigh

Part Two:

"Reciprocity"

----------------

For twenty years, the university resisted the trend. It was a long and hard battle that seemed justified at the start but became a bitter fight near the end. Ultimately, however, it was the persistence of a single, unwavering voice that turned the tied and caused the institution to surrender.

And she didn't even like coffee.

"I don't understand why we're here so early," Kim said, groggy to her lively roommate, Beth Corelia. They were sitting in a fairly large, but entirely empty coffee house in the center of the academic side of campus. Café Carlitos the place was called, which seemed just about as dubious as it's often missing franchise operator. The two had been granted early access to the as-yet unopened store, for their help in getting it established. None of the machines were grinding any beans yet, however.

"Weren't you out, like, incredibly late last night?" continued Kim.

Beth, a brunette with long wavy hair, shook her head slightly. "No, dear, that was you."

"Yeah, I know," Kim groaned. "I was just making sure you remembered." She rubbed her sore neck. "What is the deal, though, we can't even get served yet it's so early."

"This is my great triumph, Kim," announced Beth, scanning the empty café with hungry eyes. "I've been fighting to have a Café Carlitos opened on campus since my sophomore year. I need to be here to taste my victory."

"A bitter, overcooked taste that," Kim pointed out, "if I recall, you don't care for very much."

"It's a staple experience of American culture. The taste doesn't matter." Beth pulled out a notebook and placed it on the table. "Not to mention, I'm not writing my thesis on the sociological aspects of my own dislike of coffee, just everyone elses."

"Um, right." Kim put her head on the table. "I'm just going to nap until I can get a café latte."

Beth leaned her head on her palm and looked sideways at Kim. "So, anniversary, huh?"

Kim looked up. "A what?"

Beth grinned evilly. "Six months."

Kim frowned. "Until what?"

"Not until, _since!_" Beth playfully bopped Kim on the head. "It's been six months since you and Shego took your nocturnal behavior to a new level."

"That's probably the most salacious way of saying 'sex' I've ever heard," commented Kim.

"You're telling me you didn't even realize?" asked Beth, skeptically.

"I --" Kim hesitated for a moment. "Well, I did, but, I don't really want to bother Shego with it."

"'Bother Shego,' hmm?" Beth mused. "So, what if she says it's not serious, what do you think about it?"

"Who says it's not serious?"

"Shego, apparently."

"She told you that?" Kim went wide eyed.

Beth just sighed. "Kim, now, we've been friends for years now, and I just have to say, to offense or no offense, that you are completely incapable of reading people."

Kim crossed her arms. "Well, I'm sorry I don't spend enough time studying the habits of coffee drinkers." She looked away.

Beth raised an eyebrow and waited.

"It's just..." started Kim. "She said it at the start: she doesn't love me and she doesn't think she can start. And I completely understand that," Kim looked back at Beth with a frown. "We hated each other for years. _Years_! And we still have completely different views on very essential things like laws and ethics and... well, decency." She looked down at her hands.

"I'll have to ask about that decency thing some other time," said Beth. "But, Kim, does any of that come to mind when you two are together?"

"To be honest, yes!" Kim said. "And that's why I think she's right. We stand on opposite sides of a cliff." Kim ran her hands through her hair. "She says things sometimes, things that... bother me. The way she talks about other people, like there are two classes in the world, those who are her equals and those who lie beneath her." She swallowed. "She really doesn't give a thought to those beneath her."

"And you feel differently?" asked Beth.

"Of course! I spent my youth fighting to help those who are different than me, who can't run across the world going toe-to-toe with criminals. I don't think they're beneath me, and I do care about them!" Kim sighed. "How can I connect to someone who discards the people I've sacrificed to help?"

"I'm not sure," admitted Beth, looking thoughtfully to the side. Outside she could see students lining up, waiting for the Café Carlitos to open to get their first on-campus coffee fix since coming to the university. Their envious glares at she and Kim were only tempered by the fact that they had both not yet gotten anything to drink. Still, they all watched. Some impatiently, some sleepily, some nervously studying in line for a test undoubtedly later in the day. There were students from a variety of majors and fields, and teachers from across the campus. On a ordinary day, none of these people would ever run into each other. But today wasn't an ordinary day.

Beth looked back at Kim, tired, slightly annoyed, and definitely exasperated by the conversation. She smiled. "But you do," she said.

"What do you mean?" Kim said, confused.

"You said you couldn't imagine how you could connect with her," Beth explained. "But you don't have to imagine it. You do connect. The two of you are alive when you're together. More alive than when you are apart."

"When your..." hesitated Beth. "When you were let down by the people you lent your name to, you were shocked and depressed. They had taken something you thought was pure and about goodness and justice and they let something horrible happen to that man. You got over it, but sometimes I could see your demons lurking in your vision."

"But then, Shego showed up, and things changed. You started to become lively again, and I saw less and less of the shadow you used to stand within. Whether you or Shego believe you can be 'serious' is aside to the fact that you found something in her that brightened your life. You have a connection, even if you don't recognize it."

Kim looked down and was silent. Beth frowned. "I don't mean to lecture," she said.

"I know," said Kim, looking away. "I'm just not sure --" she stopped. "Even if everything you said is true, I'm still don't think it's enough."

Beth opened her mouth but stopped, then closed it wordlessly. Behind Kim, she could see the Café Carlitos employees heading for the door to finally let in the silent masses. Beth opened her notebook and started to write, turning her attention to her research. She'd tried her best with Kim, but some things couldn't be solved by others, they had to be worked out by the people involved.

Her only concern was the sheer power the players possessed. If something went wrong, more than feelings would be bruised.

----

Thanks to Beth and her meddling, the day seemed to pass dreadfully fast for Kim. While the thought of milestones in hers and Shego's relationship had crossed Kim's mind once or twice, she didn't think twice about it until today, when it seemed to pop up between almost every other thought. They were going to Miles' club tonight, which normally meant a great time that Kim would happily anticipate, but now she was nervous and afraid.

Sighing, she tried to pour her attention back into the economics books in front of her. The subject had constantly eluded her, and was currently looking to be the only blemish on her grades this semester. She understood the basics, enough to relate it to what affects her own shopping, but macroeconomics proved to be a struggle.

"Heya pumpkin," a raspy voice floated across the largely empty lounge in the Leary Building. Kim looked up.

"Hey Sheeg--woah!" Kim's blinked and left her jaw somewhat slack. Shego was walking slowly -- no, sultrily -- towards her in a sheer black dress with a single shard of vibrant green that ran from a point just above her slender hip, across her legs, and down to the floor. Her hair had been tied up above and behind her head with a few strands of black hair falling like a fountain behind her.

Kim realized her mouth was open and closed it, slowly biting her lip, keeping her eyes locked on the vision before her. Shego seemed to blush as she got closer, but Kim convinced herself that it was an illusion. Shego wasn't coy... right?

Kim eventually found her voice when Shego was beside her. "You look... great," she said, then felt ridiculous. Kim was sure she knew that already.

"Thanks," Shego said, smiling softly. "Are you ready to go?"

"Uh, yea--" Kim started then stopped as her brain finally finished mentally fondling Shego and kicked into over drive. _Oh my god,_ her mind yelled. _ She remembered the anniversary, and she dressed up for it and -- crap! I look like a bum compared to her. I can't go out with her like this, she's going to think it doesn't matter to me when I was the one who thought it didn't matter to her and I can't let her think--_

"Kimmie," Shego said playfully, interrupting Kim's internal monologue. "You stopped talking."

_STALL!_

"I'm not ready yet," Kim blurted, then tried to figure out what to follow that up with. "I was running late from class and I didn't have enough time to change so I though I'd wait and tell you so you didn't think I'd forgotten." _There, that sounded natural._ "If you don't mind waiting..."

"All right," said Shego. "Let's head to your apartment then."

Kim pushed all her books into a pile, picked the whole mess up and dumped it into her backpack. She felt like a idiot as some pages of her notebook got torn and a few books became wedged as she pushed the pile of material far enough into the bag to get the flap closed.

Tossing the pack onto her back (and hearing a variety of suspicious crunching noises) she started heading for the door. Shego walked closely beside her and Kim tried to fight the impulse to stare at her. She failed utterly.

_Why has everyone caught me off-guard today? _Kim thought to herself. _I'm not usually this defensive._

"Be careful of the door, Kimmie," said Shego as Kim looked up to catch herself moments from walking into the glass. Shego just smiled as she moved in front and pushed open the door, holding it a moment for Kim to follow.

Kim moved through absent mindedly because her mind had registered two things: First, Shego's dress was cut low in the back. _Very_ low. It showed her bare skin all the way down to just below the small of her back in a bold 'V' shape. The sheer material continued just a bit farther, leaving just enough to the imagination to make parts of Kim's body shiver that she didn't frequently expose to cold.

The second thing that Kim noticed was slightly less alluring. There was a very faint lattice of scars to the right side of Shego's back that ran under the flimsy material. They were slight, and looked to have been received a little while ago, but were irregularly spaced as if they were carved with claws. Shego was an ... active person, as Kim knew, and scars were the result of that lifestyle, but the part that bothered her was that although they looked to be weeks old, Kim had never noticed them before.

"Shego," Kim said, immediately sobering from the intoxicating appearance of Shego's dress. "What happened to your back?"

Shego spun immediately to hide the scars in question from Kim's sight. A shadow crossed her face that she quickly corrected, but the red-headed girl had not missed it. "Oh, it's nothing, just a little accident," she said smoothly.

Kim frowned. "You accidentally cut up your back?" she asked, incredulously. "They don't look recent, too, but I've never seen them before."

"I heal fast," said Shego, grimacing slightly. "Really fast. It's something to do with the... meteor."

Kim pondered that for a moment as they continued walking. They had to cross campus from the academic center to get to the apartments that she and Beth lived in. The walk usually took about ten minutes. Kim slowed slightly, however, to give herself more time to think.

Shego walked silently until Kim spoke again. "So you're saying that the scars look old, but you really got them recently."

"Just drop it," Shego warned, her voice getting louder and sharper. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Sheeg," continued Kim. "I'm not going to hear about you in the news tomorrow, am I?"

"Do you not understand the meaning of the phrase, 'drop it?'" Shego snapped. "I swear, Princess, sometimes you _try_ to get me--"

"I'm sorry!" interrupted Kim, in a panic. "I'll ... I'm done, now. I didn't mean to pry." She sighed. "I just want to have a nice night, together. Honest."

Shego nodded and continued walking ahead, no longer trying to hide her back from the former crime fighter.

------

They didn't end up going to Miles' club. It was a nice place, not far from campus, and was frequently their meeting place, but it was far from the sort of dress that Shego had arrived in. Instead, they went to a private club called 'The Spyre' that Shego had already made reservations at. Kim tried to figure out what kind of club it was as they were entering, but the only conclusion she reached was: strange.

The envelope that Shego discreetly slipped the doorman to get in was only suspicious. But the concierge who greeted her by name on sight was outright bizarre. Kim knew Shego bent over backwards to keep herself from being known in the area and yet the man recognized her immediately. Kim tried to find an opportunity to ask her about it but they were ushered too quickly off to a very nice leather adorned booth before she got a word in.

The first menu that came was only for drinks, and was dominated by variations of the martini. Kim had grown fond of the drink in recent months, as she found Shego drank little else, and was somewhat amused by the variety. She picked a fruity variant and Shego ordered a sour apple -- the green drink, naturally.

To Kim's relief, the more she reacted in a surprised manner at the things around her, the more she saw Shego's expression soften from the frown she wore after their brief argument on campus. By the time the menu that was composed entirely of appetizers arrived, she was back to the lazy but happy smile she had when she first appeared in the Leary Building's lounge.

"So pumpkin," Shego said, after they had ordered a calamari and a bruschetta appetizer. "What do you think this place is?"

Kim blinked and looked around again. The place was relatively fully, but not bustling. Everyone was dressed to the nines, as well, just like Shego and now Kim herself. Conversation was soft, barely above a murmur, and the live string quartet was playing variations on Handel.

"It's very classy," Kim said, trying to figure out what Shego meant. "It seems very expensive, as well. I'm surprised that they know who you are. I thought you never got into habits so that people couldn't track you down."

"Coming to see you every week is a habit as well," Shego pointed out. "One I am..." she hesitated, and Kim saw uncertainty in her face for a moment. It quickly vanished. "One I am unwilling to break. But I can trust you to not to make things harder for me."

"Of course you can," Kim said, adamantly.

"Well, I can trust these guys as well," said Shego, simply.

"How?"

"Take a closer look around, Kimmie.

Kim looked again, this time trying to study the place, find every detail, and evoke every instinct she had to figure out what Shego was driving at. It was very nice and not the sort of place that Kim would normally find herself, but beyond that, it could have been any restaurant. Nothing about the decorations or the dishes seemed to mean anything to Kim, and certainly they didn't make any sense as to why Shego could trust that her appearances wouldn't go reported.

She was about to give up and ask Shego was the deal was when she felt it, the tingling on her back and neck. It wasn't definitive, but Kim knew what it meant. She calmed herself and faced Shego, but turned her eyes to glance around the restaurant. At first she saw the same view as before but then she caught it: a glance her way at one table across the room. It was brief, but definitely deliberate. The man there intentionally looked directly at Kim then moved on. He was keeping tabs on her.

Kim kept looking and noticed it again, from a different table now. There was a couple there, a man and a woman, and the woman was talking casually but every now and then she would shake her head for some reason and her eyes would scan the whole restaurant at once, lingering on a couple other people including Kim. Then she went back to talking, like it was nothing.

The more that Kim paid attention, the more she realized that everyone in the restaurant was acting the same way. They were all watching each other. As if they were all slightly nervous to be in the same room together.

Kim blinked then looked at Shego. "Everyone here is like you," she said finally. Shego said nothing in return but continued smiling.

Kim frowned. "You can't be serious," she said. "You brought me to a club for criminals." She felt irritated. "Why would you do that? You know what I am."

Shego raised an eyebrow. "What you are?" She leaned forward. "From what I can tell, you're an ex-crime fighter."

"Ex?" said Kim, confused.

"Of course, ex," replied Shego. "You retired, or are on an incredibly long hiatus, either way, I don't see you chasing after criminals too often anymore." She thought about that for a moment. "Well, except me."

"If _I'm_ an ex, then so are you." Kim pointed at her date. "Unless those scars represent a relapse."

Shego grumbled and grit her teeth then stopped and closed her eyes, breathing slowly. "I promise you, pumpkin," she said. "We will talk about the scars tonight. But not right now, okay?"

Kim blinked, surprised. "Um... okay."

Shego opened her eyes again and looked coolly at Kim. "But what you said is right. If you're an ex, so am I. I don't disagree." She looked out over the crowd. "So are all these people."

"What?" Kim boggled.

"Everyone here is an ex-criminal, Kim," explained Shego. "Either their warrants have expired, or they've served time, or they were never caught but decided to retire. In any case, nobody here plans on committing a serious crime ever again. Now, many of them can't rid themselves of the nervous glances, but it's just because many people here used to be at each others throats, years back."

"A club," started Kim. "For ex-criminals." She paused on that, then blinked. "In the same city as my college."

"There are actually a bunch of them," added Shego. "In a lot of cities. Jack Hench operates most of them, but a few are independently owned."

"Jack Hench, the super villain supplier?"

"The same. His work is fairly legit. His customers aren't, and he makes little effort to distinguish, but still, everything he does is within the confines of the bendable law. He even declares bribes on his tax forms."

"He bribes people?" asked Kim.

"No, he gets bribes, for discounts and for not selling to one villain or another." Shego sipped her martini. "Technically it's an incentive, the government doesn't recognize bribes as official income, but he does get his ducks in a row. "

Kim reeled at the information she was getting. "Why are you telling me all this?"

Shego put her drink down. "Because I want you to understand what's going on before you pass judgment."

Kim looked suspiciously at Shego. "Pass judgment on what?"

"Jack Hench offered me a job."

Kim boggled. "A job?"

"Yes," nodded Shego. "I'd be around here, mostly, and Jack says he'll protect me so I don't need to hide anymore."

Kim frowned, but Shego continued. "It's all legal, too. Headhunter-type work."

"I'm assuming that's not a euphemism for assassination," grumbled Kim.

"It's not," assured Shego. "I'd just be using my contacts and reputation in the villain community to find people willing to work with Hench to conduct sales and development. His legal department says that as long as I represent myself properly, I can be protected under confidentiality and not be liable for any villain's crimes."

"But you'd be helping villains get supplied with the gear they need to commit crimes," Kim said. "You'd be making it easier for them to defeat people like me."

"Like GJ," said Shego, quickly. "You're ex, now, remember."

"But I still _care_, Shego!" exclaimed Kim. "Those are people I know, people I want to be safe. Wade! He works for GJ. He could get hurt." Kim shook her head. "You're not committing any crimes but you're doing everything but!"

Shego frowned and glanced around. "Keep it down, Princess."

"Is that why we're here?" Kim said, realizing. "To celebrate you getting a job?"

"It's not just that--" started Shego.

"God," said Kim, exasperated. "And I thought something had changed in you."

"Changed?" Shego blinked. "What the hell was wrong with me that I have to change?"

Kim looked away and said nothing.

"Dammit, Princess," growled Shego. "Where do you get off? You still think you're better than me!"

"I don't!" insisted Kim. She turned back to the dark haired woman. "But what are we supposed to do? You still think like a criminal and I still think like a hero. How are we supposed to move forward?"

"Since when has this been a problem?" yelled Shego. "I don't remember this being a big deal with you six months ago!"

"Well, it was!"

"I can't believe this," said Shego, standing. "All this time..." she clenched her fists, sending soft plumes of ozone into the air. "All this time and it's still a fling to you!"

"And what was it to you?" Kim was standing now too. "You tried to back out of this at the start. And even after six months I still only see you once a week! How were things suppose to change while you're wanted by GJ, Interpol, and twenty countries around the world?"

Shego slammed her fist on the table, which rocked slightly and became scorched her fist hit the surface. "Like this!" she yelled. "What did you think this all was?" Shego gestured around the restaurant. "Some attempt to gloat that I figured out a new way to be a criminal?"

"Yes, that's what it looked like." Kim folded her arms.

Shego lowered her head and simmered. "You're a real piece of work," she spat. "I make all these sacrifices... I even _try_... only because you ..." She balled her fists which immediately glowed bright green. Her eyes rose to meet Kim's. "Damn you."

Kim stepped back half a step at the anger she felt directed towards her. Her skin was tingling, half from the energy Shego was suddenly emitting and half because she knew. This argument had just gotten out of hand.

"Shego--" Kim started, but didn't have the chance to finish.

"DAMN YOU KIM POSSIBLE!" Shego lunged.

------

Beth walked into the apartment she shared with Kim from her second job and was ready to collapse on her bed. Four hours of classes and ten hours of work was far from the worst day on her schedule, but on Thursday nights, it felt that way. Probably because of the proximity to the weekend, which Beth never allowed to be full of anything but fun and, occasionally, sex. It also could be because of that boring biochemistry she had this semester. It should be illegal for people to teach subjects they themselves dislike.

Sighing, Beth turned on the lights and moved to drop her purse on the counter when she saw the lump of blackened, still somewhat smoking flesh, hair and cloth sitting in the corner of the lounge. She dropped her bag on the floor and immediately rushed to the form.

"Kim!" Beth cried, dropping to her knees and putting her hands on her roommate's shoulders. The red (and black) haired girl looked up slowly, showing more bruises on her face and her cheeks streaked with tears.

"Beth...?" Kim murmured.

"Kim, what happened to you?" Beth ran her hands over Kim's head, looking for bumps or blood. Thankfully, she found little more than a few patches of melted hair. Beth's expression darkened anyway. "Did Shego do this to you?"

Kim widened her eyes then quickly looked away. "She didn't... it's..." she started, struggling with the words and appearing to flinch every time she breathed in.

"Yes, she did," Kim said finally. "But it wasn't..."

"Has she ever done this before?" asked Beth, urgently.

Kim blinked. "Of course," she said. "We used to hate each other."

"That's not what I mean," Beth shook her head. "Since you started going out together."

"No, it's not what you think," Kim hung her head. "I angered her. She angered me. We fought... except..."

Kim stared at the ground. "It was worse for some reason. I've never gotten that angry before." She paused. "Well, once before. It was years back, and I nearly killed Shego that night. Oh god..."

Kim buried her head in her hands. "This is what I am. This is how I solve my problems. A little luck, a little ingenuity, and a lot of my fists." She sobbed. "I thought Shego was the violent one."

"Kim," Beth stroked Kim's hair. "Honey, you're not that way. I've never seen you throw one punch in the years we've been friends. You're just trying to explain your whole life based on whatever happened tonight." Beth stood and moved to the sink, grabbing a washcloth. Wringing out the excess water, she held it out to Kim.

"You look terrible," said Beth. "Why don't you clean yourself up?"

"What's the point, I'm dirty," grumbled Kim.

"You're depressed and you're using a child's logic," Beth shook her head. "Take this, wash up, take a shower, and then we'll sit and you can explain everything to me."

Kim grumbled a few more times before acquiescing and heading for the bath. Before she reached the door, however, Beth spoke. "How does Shego look right now?"

Kim lowered her eyes. "Worse." She disappeared into the bathroom.

Beth sighed and put her hand on her head. "For some reason, I don't doubt that for a second."

------

The Naked Skull was a dive on the east side of the city that only the lowest of the low ever really entered. It was a bar, but they couldn't afford top shelf liquor. Actually, they couldn't afford much more than a tap of Bud and carton of cheap tequila bottles, but their clientele didn't usually mind. Nor did they complain about the jukebox, which contained only six working 45s, all of which from the mid 60s. There were only two reasons a person ever came to the Naked Skull: to get drunk and to hide from life (which typically involved getting drunk).

Of note to Shego, however, was that they were the only open drinking establishment that let a woman who appeared to have been recently mauled by a wolverine come in and get a shot of tequila.

"Another," Shego grumbled, then winced as she felt the cut in her mouth sting. "Make it a double, I'm still feeling pain." She shoved the empty shot glass down the bar in the general direction of the barkeep. Which essentially meant she pushed it off the bar entirely.

"Are you sure you shouldn't be going to a hospital?" asked the bartender, a very large bald man with a giant mustache and a pair of leather paths and a vest. No shirt was apparently needed to hide the potbelly before him. "You look... bad."

"Who're you?" snapped Shego. "Doctor fucking Possible?"

The bartender blinked. "I don't know what that means."

"It means fill up my shot, I'm empty!" Shego pounded the bar for emphasis, causing a crackle of green energy to run up her arm. The barkeep didn't need any more encouragement.

As Shego was forcing down her second shot when the last voice she really wanted to hear came from the door.

"Well, it seems we have a bit to talk about."

Shego didn't even turn. She could imagine how out of place the man behind her was looking in a place like the Naked Skull. "Get out of here, I'll deal with you later. I'm not in the mood."

"That's a shame," said the man smoothly as he walked evenly up to the bar and sat beside the disheveled woman. He was wearing a slick gray suit with perfectly quaffed black hair streaked with gray, and shiny, expensive, Italian leather shoes. He had a face like a snake, and, in Shego's opinion, a personality to match. She'd tolerated him up until now, but today was not a day of charity for her.

"Jack..." she started.

"The way things look to me," he said, motion to the barkeep. "You don't have a lot of choice." Jack looked at the overweight man. "I'll have a bourbon." Looking at the suited man once, the bartender turned away and started watching the single thirteen inch television in the corner.

"Hrm."

"You're threatening me?" asked Shego, looking at Jack through the corner of her eye. "I could twist you like a goddamn twig, Hench."

"I'm not threatening you," assured Jack. "But I understand you made quite a mess of one of my restaurants."

Shego grumbled.

"I did, however, offer you quite an opportunity earlier to which you told me, 'I'll have to consult someone' about it." The snake straightened his jacket. "Can I assume that the 'someone' did not appreciate my gesture?"

The black haired beauty stared into her empty glass. "You're a jerk."

"Are you sure you're not just displacing your frustration--"

"No, you're a jerk," nodded Shego. "Whatever I may be feeling about my 'someone,' you're still a jerk."

"Are you turning down my offer then?" asked Jack, with that same smug expression he gave everyone. "If that's the case, we need to talk about the cost of repairs to my establishment."

Shego blinked in response, then started laughing. "Y-you're going to bill me?" she said between gasps. "A _thief_. For damages? Ahahaha!"

Unnervingly, Jack just motioned behind him as one of his well suited bodyguards walked forward and placed a manila envelope into his hands. While the thief was getting the giggles out of her system, he laid the sizable, sealed, envelope on the bar. "Do you know what this is?"

"A list of charges?" said Shego, smiling.

"No," Jack folded his hands. "Before I get into a business relationship with anybody, I always perform an extensive background and personality check to make sure the person I'm dealing with can be trusted." He nodded towards the envelope. "Not personally, mind you, I've got more than enough things to be worried about, but I do have some of the best intelligence gathering people in the world working for me and they kindly separate everything into two reports."

He raised a finger. "One report, I get. It contains salient portions of the person's life as well as a summary of how far that person can be trusted or pushed." A second finger. "The other report, of which there is only ever one physical copy, is sealed and filed and contains every little nitpick, scandal, illicit deal, and illegal download that person has ever done. I don't look at that report." He tapped his fingers on the envelope. "This report, in your case."

The reality of the situation started to dawn on Shego, and she frowned deeply. Jack just went on. "The reason for the second report is simple: leverage. If somebody wrongs me or disappoints me, I can refer to the file and bring out the most scandalous secrets to expose to the world." He leaned on the bar. "Or their friends, family, whatever it takes to crush them within the bounds of the law. If I never have a problem with my business partner, I never open the envelope. Our business is concluded."

Jack suddenly frowned then pulled slowly away from the bar, the sleeves of his coat coated in a thin film. "Oh man, my suit."

"Blackmail is illegal," Shego sneered, staring at the envelope. Jack picked up the corner of the yellow square gently and lifted it from the grime of the bar, letting the remnants of drinks and bar chips run off the papery surface. "And you'll never catch me in a net made by laws. I break more in an afternoon than most Middleton police see in a year." Shego pushed her shot glass away and put her hand on her hip.

"I'm not blackmailing anyone," said Jack, removing his coat and receiving a nearly identical one from his assistant. "My partners never know about the existence of the second envelope, it exists for my benefit only." He wiped off the envelope. "The reason why I'm letting you know is because I have another offer for you, one that includes me giving you this."

Shego raised an eyebrow. "Save it, Hench," she spat. "Truth is, I'm not entirely certain the person I talked to was wrong. I'm trying to leave behind my criminal-related problems and your job just seems like putting a safety curtain between it and me. I'd still have problems, I'd just be pretending I didn't."

"A fair assessment," replied Jack. "And not entirely unexpected." He smiled again. "See, I really like you Shego." Jack blinked. "Platonically speaking, of course. I think you've got a marvelous mind, exceptional skills, and quite a reputation among my clients. You're a perfect fit for HenchCo, which is why I offered you that job. But, I can see now that I had misunderstood your motivations. I thought you liked being a villain."

"I never said I disliked being a villain," said Shego.

"But you want to get out of it," clarified Jack.

"Not...it's not that I really want out," the dark haired woman explained. "There are just things I want more right now." She looked down. "Although, maybe that was all just a dream anyway."

"Ah, boy trouble," nodded Jack.

Shego sighed. "You really haven't read that file, have you?"

"I said I hadn't," the suited man said. "As strange as it sounds, I've found honesty to be more reliable when dealing with villains that trickery."

"I'm not a villain anymore," said Shego.

"Are you sure?"

The woman looked up and tried to straighten the tattered remains of her dress and her uneven and messy hair. "Yes. I'm through with it."

"Will you hear my new offer, then?" asked Jack. "It may be more up your alley."

"Alright."

------

Beth sat silently as she waited for Kim to speak. Kim, her roommate who has fought enemies both brilliant and Herculean, solved problems both planetary and interpersonal, was sitting at their kitchen table looking like a six year old girl who had stolen from the cookie jar.

After a few minutes, Kim spoke.

"I'm not even really sure whose fault it is," she said with a shrug. "It seemed like such an innocuous idea, but there was trouble brewing right from the start."

"You're talking about your fight?" asked Beth.

"I'm talking about our relationship," Kim said, surprisingly.

Beth was taken aback. "You think your entirely relationship was a bad idea?"

"No," she said uneasily. "Not entirely. Just not... built to last. Not meant to be."

"Nothing is meant to be," Beth said quickly. "Nothing is _not_ meant to be either, for that matter. If all the time I've spent studying how humans interact has taught me anything it's that." She looked to the side. "There are many things that result from a confluence of events, but that doesn't make any one moment more destined than the next. An enticing look, a passionate kiss, mad lovemaking," she smiled slightly. "It's all magic. But the future of a couple happens afterwards, and it's all how you decide to treat each other."

"We can't reconcile our point of views," said Kim. "Shego will always love her life more than mine, and if she changes to match me, it'll only be passion keeping us together and eventually she'll come to resent it." She sighed. "Splitting up now, stopping the changes... it'll keep her from becoming something she hates."

"At the cost of you doing something you hate," finished Beth. Kim didn't respond.

Beth folded her hands. "I know it's not as easy as I'm trying to make it sound. But nothing worth having is ever going to be easy to get. Deciding whether it's worth the effort, though, should be a simpler task." Beth leaned forward. "You love her, don't you?"

Kim frowned and looked slowly up at Beth. "I don't really know what that means."

Beth smiled sadly and put her arm around Kim. "It's okay." She rocked Kim back and forth. "I'm sorry, sweetheart, maybe this isn't a good time to talk about this. You're tired and apparently a little beaten. Maybe you'll feel better in the morning. Let's get you off to bed."

Kim stood at Beth's encouragement and headed for the bedroom. As they reached the door, Kim turned slightly. "I got angry at her first," Kim said. "She was in a good mood and I ruined it because I didn't like her life choices." She closed her eyes. "How can that be love?"

"There are many different kinds of love, Kim," said Beth as she guided Kim towards the redhead's bed. "It's not a problem with a defined solution to be calculated. You figure it out as you go along." Beth tucked her roommate into bed. "Maybe you and Shego don't have any love between you. Or maybe it's a type of love you've never tried looking for before."

"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Kim.

"I'm not really sure," said Beth whimsically. She put a finger to her chin. "Just don't be held back by what other people have told you love is all about. Everything people say can be boiled down to just friendship and trust. But then again, maybe you shouldn't be listening to me either."

Beth turned silently and slipped out of the room. Kim tried to think about what her roommate just said, but once her head was on the pillow, sleep quickly claimed her.

In what seemed like moments later, Kim opened her eyes to find herself standing in a great field of wheat beneath the golden sun. Blue skies stretched unrealistically far and the horizon was dotted by occasional barn or silo. The tall stalks of wheat seemed to glimmer in the sunlight and Kim had to shield her eyes from their radiant glow.

A rustling drew her attention as she saw something moving through the wheat towards her. The stalks were being brushed aside at a fairly quick pace, but whatever it was that was moving was too short to be seen over the tall grain. As Kim watched and listened, she could hear the quick patter of feet and occasional laughter of children.

Suddenly the moving sounds reached the small parting that Kim was standing in and broke through the wheat into view. The curious ex-cheerleader stared in amazement as the two small figures ran past her and back into the stalks on the other side. They were fast, the children, but Kim was fairly certain that they were 5-year old versions of herself and Ron.

"Hey," Kim called after her own childish visage, but there was no response. Unsure of what else to do, she broke into a run and chased after the sounds of giggling in the distance.

Although the children were as tall as Kim's legs, she couldn't seem to catch up. The laughter kept getting farther away and her speed started to drop even though she hadn't changed her pace at all. A few minutes later the giggling died completely away and she was standing in another clearing. Here the wheat appeared to have been flatted, like a giant circular object had rested there and crushed the once tall stalks.

"What the hell is going on?" mused Kim aloud.

"Hey!' a young voice called from behind her. Kim spun, startled, and looked down to see a cross 6-year-old Kim Possible staring up at her with her arms at her hips. She moved one of her arms to wave a finger at her elder self. "No swearing," warned the youngster. "It's not proper."

"Sorry," apologized Kim. She kneeled to be even with the kid. "So, who are you?"

"I'm Kim Possible," announced the girl, proudly. "I can do anything."

Kim smiled. "I'm sure you can, little Kimmie."

"Not Kimmie, K – I – M!" corrected the younger. "And I'm not little, I'm six years old."

"Well, that certainly is not little, Kim."

"That's right," she nodded, returning her wagging finger to her hip again. "So, what's your name?"

"I'm Kim Possible too," said the elder Kim. "Just like you."

"No you're not!" The little Kim was frowning again. "You can't be like me."

"Why not?"

"Because you can't do anything, like I can," the child nodded. "You fail at things, let the bad guys get away, and hurt your friends."

Kim frowned. "Some things change as you get older," she explained. "You can't always be the winner, some things can't be won."

"Anything is possible for a Possible," recited the younger.

"Look, I know Daddy tells you that—" Kim started.

"Hey, Kim!" a whiney voice came from the perimeter of the clearing. Both Possibles turned to see a 6-year-old Ron peeking his head through the tall stalks of wheat. "There's a big dog in the playground! Nobody can get to the sandbox or the -- ugh –- _monkey_ bars!"

"Okay!" yelled the younger Kim. She sighed. "A hero's work is never done."

"I remember that," mused the older Kim with a smile. "Ron gets bit by the dog, but it does get scared off by his ALF underwear."

"That Ron causes as much trouble as he helps solve," the younger Kim said.

"Yeah," nodded the elder. "But he's always there when you need him."

"I know," smiled 6-year-old Kim as she started running to where Ron was. "That's why I love him."

"Wait, what?" called Kim, but the two figures had disappeared into the wheat. She called again but everything had gone silent.

"Weird," Kim said.

"I'll say."

Kim froze, then slowly turned around again, coming face to face with... another Kim Possible. This one was older than the last, probably about twelve or thirteen years old, wearing a green sweater over a white shirt, slacks, and wearing a pair of glasses that looked slightly too big for her. Light glinted slightly off her braces as she spoke.

"Surprised to see me?" said the younger, but not as young as the last, Kim. "I figure this is some sort of inner conflict resolution your mind is playing out as a result of the confluence of multiple social and emotional challenges you've faced in your conscious life. So you really shouldn't be so shocked."

Kim blinked. "Um, okay," she started. "I'm guessing you're about twelve."

"Twelve years, five months, thirteen days, twenty hours, nineteen thirty one minutes old," the younger Kim rattled off. "About twelve and a half, if you must be so imprecise."

"Yeah," grimaced Kim. "That was about when I realized the twins were geniuses.'

"You didn't just realize," reminded the bespeckled Kim. "Their incalculably high IQ scores were announced in the newspaper, eclipsing, _momentarily_, the oil tanker I saved from crashing into the Jersey coast."

"It was just a test," justified Kim.

"Just a test?" younger Kim repeated. "They scored more than twice as high as I did. Hell, Father and Mother both scored higher than I did!"

"You shouldn't swear," Kim said, before she could catch herself. "And Daddy's IQ actually grew steadily over his life, as strange as that is. Either way, it wasn't that big a deal."

"It was a huge deal!" yelled younger Kim. "Do you even remember me? Do you even remember what it felt like to watch your life peak at age _twelve_? What the hell am I supposed to do next?"

"A lot!" replied Kim. "This isn't the peak, your life gets much better, and lots more people are helped by what you do. Maybe the tweebs got recognized back then, but I got lots of other recognitions afterwards. After the Bueno Nacho thing I got commended by the president, got accepted into my preferred university, even had fun dating Ron. You get to be happier!"

"Oh really?" asked younger Kim, incredulously. "So why are you so sad right now?"

Kim hesitated and glanced away. "What?" she said, looking back.

But the twelve-year-old was gone and had been replaced by a much older, seventeen-year-old Kim. She was wearing the old 'uniform' from Kim's crime fighting days: black turtleneck with the bare midriff, cargo pants and back boots.

"Wow, weird," said Kim. "It's like looking in a mirror."

"Thanks," the eighteen-year-old Kim said. "It's nice to know I age well."

"So what do you have to do with all of this?"

"Beats me," shrugged the teenaged Kim. "I stopped trying to figure out all this metaphysical stuff when I was thirteen."

"Right," nodded Kim. "Life got easier then too."

"Well, like you said before, the tweebs being smart wasn't really the end of my world, and the villains started showing then too, which turned out to be much more fun than stopping floods and mudslides." Teenaged Kim looked uneasy for a moment. "A little more dangerous though."

"Yeah, I know," nodded Kim. "That's why I ended up getting out of it."

"What?" asked teenaged Kim. "You got 'out' of it? Out of crime fighting?"

"Um.. yeah?"

"How could you possibly get out of crime fighting? Even if you wanted to, how could you ignore people's pleas for help?" The teenaged crime fighter's eyes went wide. "You didn't turn... evil, did you?"

"What? No!" yelled Kim, a little confused. "Wait, how come you don't know? You're practically me, aren't you?"

"I'm not sure," frowned teenaged Kim. "You certainly aren't sounding like me."

"Don't be ridiculous," said Kim with a wave of her hand. "I don't turn evil. I'm not really sure what that even means, actually. Evil is just when someone's motivations don't agree with your own."

"No," teenaged Kim shook her head. "There are some things... some people, that are definitely evil. Like Shego, she's definitely evil, _especially_ after what she did to me... to _us_ during the Bueno Nacho thing."

"Shego isn't all that evil." Kim shrugged. "Well, she's rude and abrasive, but I'm sure she had her reasons for doing what she does. She did turn out to be a very passionate lover."

"Lover!" Teenaged Kim made a sickly face. "Oh, god, I need a bucket." The younger of the two Possibles staggered around for a moment before recovering. "Please tell me you found that out from Drakken or Junior or someone."

"No, I found out—" Kim started, then hesitated. "Now, really, I'm very confused here. I've seeming been going on a tour of my own life, but all of you are crazy! I'm not like any of you, and I don't think I ever was!"

"Of course you were," a voice came from behind Kim. She turned to see the twelve-(and-a-half)-year-old Kim beside her. "You were all of these Kims, and hundreds more."

"When?" cried Kim, looking between the twelve and seventeen year old versions of herself.

"Throughout your entire life," the voice of the six-year-old Kim said. She stepped out from behind the seventeen-year-old to stand with the others as a triangle around the elder Kim.

"Who you are, is not a moment in time," explained teenaged Kim. "It's a progression. With a direction. Possibly one heading towards a destination, or perhaps one just heading off towards the horizon."

'But what's important is that it's changing," continued the bespeckled Kim. "Always changing. Just like everyone around you is changing. Just like the stars are changing, and the universe."

"So what?" asked elder Kim. "Why all this drama, just to tell me I'm not the same girl I used to be?"

"To remind you of it," said teenaged Kim. "And you help you recognize that all things change, including love."

"Love?"

"What love is," said six-year-old Kim.

"And who you love," continued teenaged Kim.

"And how you love," continued bespeckled Kim. "Changes and evolves as you grow older by even a day."

"So maybe you shouldn't be comparing your love with Shego, with other loves you've heard of or experienced in the past," finished teenaged Kim. "Despite how much my future self sleeping with Shego, of all people, makes me ill, that is."

The elder Kim frowned and thought. Then thought some more. "You know, I've never had a dream like this before," she said, finally.

"Things are changing more rapidly for you now," said bespeckled Kim.

"But you need to get a grip on this if you ever hope to help her," said six-year-old Kim.

"Her?" asked Kim as she turned to see where the youngest Kim was looking.

Just at the edge of the clearing was a small, worn house with a small porch and a large tree in the back yard. The house looked strangely out of place, as it were an urban dwelling transplanted into the large and long fields. Sitting on the porch was a little girl with long black hair and wearing a long green sundress.

Kim, strangely mesmerized by the sight, started walking towards the porch. The girl seemed not to see her approach until she had sat right down next to her. The dark haired girl looked up at the taller and older Kim for a second, before making a sad face and turning away. Her eyes were vibrant green, and though her features were soft where they would once be sharp, Kim recognized her immediately.

"I hate this place," the girl said in a voice reminiscent of a green thief Kim knew too well. "This isn't my place."

"Why is that, Shego?" said Kim softly.

The girl looked back for a second, then turned away again. "My name is not Shego."

"It's not?" asked Kim, confused. "What is it, then?"

"Its---"

--------

Kim sat up abruptly without a clear reason as to why. It was still quite late, 3:15am by her clock, and she thought she should have felt groggy but she didn't. She had just had the most surreal dream but the details had already begun to fade, slipping through her newly awake neurons like water through a sieve leaving only their impressions behind.

Beth had gone to sleep at some point after Kim, as the second bed in the room was occupied and slowly moving with her roommates steady breathing. The moonlight gently pouring from the window between their beds made every surface and floating dust particle glow a brilliant blue-white. It was what had often been called the dead of night, and it was almost zen-like in it's tranquility.

A shadow briefly danced across the moonlight shining on the floor and Kim threw off her covers and jumped to her feet. Running to the window she pressed herself against the glass, feeling the cool surface against her palms, as she scanned the view from the sixth story window.

At first she saw nothing but the sparse cars roaming the early morning streets and a few cats stalking the rooftops. She strained her eyes to see into the shadows to no avail. If there was movement in the dark corners behind the light, it was masked too readily by the inky shadows.

Then a black shape emerged from the shadow of the building across the street. A thin, lithe form quickly pulling itself up with it's arms onto the rooftop. When the figure had gotten its footing, it stood proudly on the roof, silhouetted from Kim's point of view by the giant low hanging moon. The edges of the shadow were lit by the light from the cloudless sky and Kim could easily make out the curve of a face beneath jet black hair.

The figure turned, startled, and stared directly at Kim who looked back with wonder. _Did she know I was thinking about her?_ thought Kim. She slid her hands down and pulled open the window to lean out. Across the street, the figure stepped back slightly, it's arms apart and ready to run if necessary. Kim pressed her palms against the sill and leaned out as far as she could, straining to be closer, ever closer, to the dark form staring back.

And then, the figure leaped from the roof on the opposite side from where Kim was viewing and seemingly vanished from sight. Kim thought about everything that had happened that night for only a second before bounding across the room to her dresser. In the top drawer she found a hairdryer that she'd not used in years. Gripping the cordless blower in one hand, she turned and ran back towards the window. She only could get four steps in before running out of room, but that was all she needed to launch herself out into the blue and black night.

As she fell she pointed her trusty hair dryer at the sky and pulled the trigger. The seemingly innocuous dryer then shot a large grappling hook and caught the edge of the building. Using her momentum, Kim swung quickly along the pivot and launched herself onto the rooftops where she saw the figure. The shadow had left, but movement one roof over caught Kim's attention. Reclaiming her grapple, Kim ran after her.

The shadow seemed to be agile, as every time Kim got closer to her during their chase, the shadow would just turn and smirk before leaping further away. Across the rooftops, they chased, leaping between buildings further and further apart. Despite her experience, Kim found herself slipping more often than not and cursed herself for not keeping up with the cheerleader practice.

Meanwhile, the shadow kept moving through the city, stopping every couple houses for her to catch up. Kim smiled as she ran, leaping from building to awning to fire escape and launching herself off of roofs only to catch herself at the last minute with her grapple. When the chase stretched into an hour, Kim's muscles began to ache but she ignored it. Her blood was pumping like it hadn't done in years, and her body felt light, and free. As if someone had reduced her weight to a feather.

All too suddenly, however, she had to stop.

Kim breathed deeply, panting almost, but never keeping her glittering eyes off her prey, which now perched, looming at opposite edge of the rooftop from where she was standing. The shadow peered off into the night at the darkness and scattered streetlights running off into the mountains north. Kim, still barefoot and barely clothed from her quick exit, padded silently forward until she stood beside the long haired runner.

Together, the two figures looked out. They had run out of city. The rooftops had ended and the only things that lay ahead were the suburbs and then long empty roads leading into dark purple mountains. Kim finally caught her breath and could stop panting.

"It's dark," she said, resting her hands on her hips. "Anything could be out there."

The figure, shown clearly in the moonlight in a black and green catsuit and long, but uneven and still rather messy hair, looked down off the roof. "The unknown," said Shego.

A breeze blew past that billowed Kim's flimsy nightshirt and chilled her bare legs. She shivered slightly and rubbed her arms. Shego looked at her. "You're freezing. You should have gotten at least a coat."

"I'm fine," said Kim. "Besides, you didn't look like you were going to wait."

Shego smiled slightly. "You wouldn't have wanted me to wait. It would have ruined the chase."

Kim shook her head, and stepped closer to Shego. Instinctively, the green and black woman wrapped her arm around the younger one, pressing their bodies closer together. Kim felt the warmth coming off Shego's body and leaned her head on her shoulder.

Looking out over the darkness, they slowly began to sway back and forth, rocking each other in the pale moonlight. Kim looked at Shego's beautifully long hair and frowned sadly. During their fight earlier, she had pulled a few chunks of her hair, and now it was uneven and tangled. They were angry at each other back then, but now Kim felt guilty. She loved Shego's hair. Even if she hated the rogue with all her being she never should have touched it.

Shego was having similar thoughts as she saw the few signs of charred and melted hair on Kim's head from where her energy had singed her. They had really done a number on each other, and it could easily had been much worse. What if Shego had hit Kim square on with an energy bolt? What if one of them had had a lucky, or unlucky, shot and ended up dead? They weren't thinking before, so filled with anger, they could have done anything, even the previously unthinkable.

Shego shivered at the thought and Kim picked her head up to look at her. In the instant both their sets of green eyes locked on each other, they knew what the other had gone through.

"We're dangerous," said Kim, without moving her eyes.

"We're women with a lot of power and with very little reason," said Shego. Her eyes softened. "You were afraid I loved being bad more than being with you."

"You were trying to find a way for us to have more time together," said Kim, smiling slightly. "And you were afraid I was trying to keep you at a distance."

Kim leaned into Shego and pulled her into a tight embrace. "I really do want to move forward with you. I let myself become so nervous of what might someday happen, I hadn't been enjoying what's been happening now."

Shego held Kim softly. "You had a right to be nervous. I was too. I've been spending too much time trying to convince myself that I wasn't being manipulated by you. That I'm still the same person I've always been."

Kim's eyes widened at the familiarity of what Shego was saying. She couldn't quite figure out why. "You're not, though," she replied. "You're not the same person. You're different. I'm different." Kim looked up at Shego and put her hand to her lover's face. "We never could have been together four years ago. We had to become what we are now, before we could see the parts in each other we liked."

Shego nodded slowly. "I know that now," she said. "But it took our fight to make me realize it." She moved closer to Kim's and rested their foreheads together. "This is my place, now. The villain thing doesn't fit anymore."

Kim smiled fully and wrapped her arms behind Shego's neck, pulling her mouth close. "Even if I can only see you once a week," she said. "Every moment is heaven."

Their lips met, and it was, as Kim said, heaven.

--------

Kim played nervously with her suddenly short hair. Beth and Shego had done everything they could to repair the damage from the little... skirmish she had with her lover, but in the end, there only one thing to be done. The stylist offered the remains of Kim's long, shiny hair back to her as a memento, but the redhead declined and donated it to Locks of Love instead.

Now Kim sported a look not too dissimilar to her mother's, back in the day. Her hair had been cut to just above the shoulder, with her bangs trimmed and shortened to rest on her forehead. It was different, and Kim didn't like it yet, but she figured that she'd either grow into it, or it would grow back.

Eventually.

Looking over at Shego, Kim smiled slightly. The ex-thief had had to cut her hair too, not quite as short, but still losing a foot or two of length. Now her hair rested just past her shoulder blades and had been trimmed back all around to hide the torn tufts of hair from their fight. Neither girl was particularly pleased by the situation but suffering it together made it bearable.

"Nervous?" asked Shego, noticing Kim staring at her.

"A little, actually," said Kim. "I've been here many times before, but this'll be the first time since... the incident that I've seen both of them."

"You don't check in anymore?" asked Shego. "To make sure they're not doing anything wrong again?"

"No," Kim shook her head. "They don't use my name anymore and I have all the PossiBots at my parents house. It doesn't involve me anymore." Kim sighed. "I don't want it to involve me anymore."

"Fair enough," conceded Shego.

The doors at the far end of the short conference room opened, briefly exposing the dull gray hallways of Global Justice Headquarters. Four armed agents, two on each side, stood at the doorway and looked briefly around the room before two people walked between them.

The first person was an athletic woman with short brown hair and wearing a black eye-patch over one eye. She had an air of authority around her that was reflected in the way the agents stood proudly at attention as she passed. Her face was stoic, but slightly angry as she strode forth and sat on the conference table opposite Kim and Shego.

The second person was slightly shorter than the first, and definitely years younger. A little overweight, with curly black hair and dark skin, the boy was sharply dressed and carrying a relatively small laptop which he placed on the table before him. He took a seat besides the eye patched woman and looked none-too-pleased at Kim and Shego.

An eerie silence settled over the room as Shego pulled out a stack of papers and began distributing them to the attendants. After the last one was passed out, Shego sat back down.

"I guess I should introduce everyone in case we don't know," said Kim, trying to fulfill her role as mediator. "Shego, this is Dr. Director, head of Global Justice, and Wade Lode, her deputy chief of robotic development at GJ." Kim looked across the table. "Betty, Wade, this is Shego, here representing the HenchCo Corporation and the interests of Jack Hench himself."

"We are all familiar, Ms. Possible," said Dr. Director. "What I'm not familiar with is what form of mind control are you on to think this meeting will result in anything other than Ms. Shego's arrest."

"Because," chimed Shego, "of what I'm here to offer you." She motioned to the packet of papers. "Before you is Jack's proposal to Global Justice. The short of it is, that Jack is concerned about his business."

"Which is vile," said Wade.

"That may be," replied Shego, casually. "But it is having an effect on the balance of power between his clients, which in this case is referring to his criminal clients, and the enforcement agencies of the world, in this case, meaning you."

Dr. Director frowned but nodded.

Shego continued. "The concern of Jack is that while his clients are ultimately very big money makers for him, he does not actually wish them to succeed in their plans or his business could be threatened. Either directly, such as being shut down by a new world emperor, or indirectly by being so powerful that his own clients won't spend the money to get new technologies."

"So he wishes to enter into a contract with Global Justice to develop technologies to protect and enable GJ agents to defeat criminals outfitted with HenchCo equipment," finished Shego. She sat carefully and watched the reactions.

Dr. Director was frowning but seemingly more confused than angry while Wade was still just plain angry.

"That is a ridiculous offer!" said Wade. "We're the most technologically advanced espionage agency in the world, we don't need the help of a dirty criminal organization like HenchCo to defeat criminals."

"Jack suspected you'd say that," nodded Shego. "Included in your packet are early designs for weapons and equipment that HenchCo is currently concluding development on within the next three months. If anything in that packet makes you nervo--"

"What is it that you expect from us for this exchange?" interrupted Dr. Director.

"A initial four year contract with HenchCo with the price of 212 million dollars," recited Shego. "That offer includes development fees and staff salaries to develop technologies solely for the use of Global Justice. In addition, there will be a variety of secrecy conditions and NDAs to ensure that our normal clients don't get wind that we're helping the 'enemy.'"

Dr. Director narrowed her eye. "All right, what else?"

Wade nearly exploded. "You're not actually considering this sham are you?" he yelled.

"Please restrain yourself Mr. Load," she said, glancing once at him. "I'd like to hear the entire offer before deciding my course of action."

Wade grumbled but remained silent. "So, what else, Ms. Shego?" repeated Dr. Director.

Shego swallowed. "There will be at least one representative from HenchCo overseeing all technology development, testing, and deployment between our company and GJ. We would like this representative to be afforded all the benefits of being a contractor with Global Justice, including article 2137 of the United Nations/Global Justice Operating Charter."

Dr. Director was silent as her eye swept between Shego and Kim then back again. "Immunity," she finally said. "You wouldn't be able to be arrested in any country."

"The HenchCo representative wouldn't be," reminded Shego. "I haven't said that it would be me."

Wade stood up and stared at Shego. "Dr. Director, as one of your staff advisors, I say we cannot trust a thing being said by that woman," he announced before turning towards the door. He looked back at Kim for a moment. "I'm not sure about the other one." He stormed out.

"We will consider your offer," said Dr. Director, standing. She followed Wade out of the room and reluctantly took the agents with her.

Kim deflated as soon as they were alone again. "That was... aggressive."

"Who was? Me or her?"

"Her, of course. I'm not surprised when _you're_ aggressive." Kim smiled.

"Do you think she'll buy into it?" asked Shego, sitting down beside Kim and loosening the collar on the stuffy suit she was asked to wear.

"I'm not sure," Kim said, shaking her head. "We're not her two favorite people. But she trusts me to a degree, so she might at least give the offer some thought."

"Oh well," shrugged Shego. "I gave it a shot. Hench thinks I'm ideal for this sort of work, I'm not really sure why. It probably won't work."

"If not, we'll figure something else out," said Kim, leaning into Shego.

"Careful," warned Shego. "I'm sure this room has eyes. Your Director was shocked enough when you told her we were friends."

Kim pouted and sat straighter. "Aww..."

"Don't give me that lip," Shego said, looking away. "I'm not your family or your hanger-ons. I'm not vulnerable to the puppy dog look."

"Awww you suuuure?" Kim said, sticking her lip out further.

Shego turned around and put her hand across Kim's mouth. She stared her in the eyes with a smile.

"Yup, pretty sure."


	3. Reciprocity: OMAKE!

Author's Note: The following brief scene was written to satisfy a bit of curiosity on the KP Slash Haven boards. I'm calling it an omakee, in the anime tradition, which basically means it's an aside that doesn't follow the tone of the original. The reasoning behind that is simple: this scene has nothing to do with Kim and Shego's relationship or overcoming their problems, so it really doesn't belong in my Kigo drama. But since I wrote it, and I'm considering this part of continuity, I'm posting it here for all to see.

Enjoy!

(Oh, I hate restrictions on titles. This should be called Chapter 2.5 but I'm apparently not allowed to use a period in a title.)

--

"Dr. Director, I have to say this is perhaps the most insulting thing I've ever heard."

The single-eyed woman rose her eyebrow and stared at her second in command incredulously. "I seriously think you're overreacting, Agent Du." She picked up her mug of coffee and sipped slowly.

"I have to agree with Will," said Wade, standing nearby. He had been grumbling to himself ever since leaving the meeting with Shego and Kim and had finally decided to speak up. "Not only is Jack Hench apparently pitying us, but he sent a known criminal to make his offer. Everything about it was insulting."

"His delivery aside," started Dr. Director. "Can we discuss the merits of the offer?"

"I'd rather not," dismissed Wade, turning to look through the large one-way window into the conference room. "Let's just send in the guard to arrest Shego and get Kim out of here."

"Mr. Load," scolded Dr. Director. "Can you please act like the agent I gratefully allowed to be instated as? This petty anger towards Shego is not appropriate for your rank. And your animosity towards Ms. Possible, however justified, should also not affect your judgement as an agent."

Wade stiffened and turned away from the window. "Of course, sir," he said, then deflated slightly. "I'm sorry, it just still hurts."

The Director softened and walked up beside him. "I know," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But it really wasn't her fault."

Wade said nothing and eventually Dr. Director turned her attention to the offer from HenchCo. "You looked over these designs, what do you each think?"

Wade paged briefly through the packet. "Some of this stuff, if they were successful in developing them, could really cause us trouble. It looks like this laser rifle was specifically designed to penetrate the armor of our A1-214 guard drones. So say nothing of the body armor R&D has been developing. The other stuff here, sonic replicators, spider alarms, neural inhibitors, they're quite dangerous stuff."

Dr. Director turned to Agent Du. "Will?"

"The turnaround time of our research staff is about twice the time it takes for HenchCo to create new technologies. We've known that we've been behind on this race for some time." Will shook his head. "Thankfully most of the people who buy these things can be defeated with strategy and ingenuity, but that's just been luck. Some day, a truly intelligent person will turn towards evil and I doubt we'd be able to stop them."

"That's sounds awfully bleak," assessed Dr. Director. "Are you insinuating that we can't afford to turn town this offer of Hench's?"

"Not at all," replied Will. "We can always expand our R&D staff, pull in more up and coming radicals like Mr. Load here. We certainly could put up a fighting chance."

"But what about casualties while our staff develops the counter-technology to Hench's weapons?" asked Dr. Director.

Will only frowned. "Agent injuries have been on the rise the last three years. Which may only reflect our growing size, but... there's also the matter that we don't have the financial and government support we used to have. We still haven't been able to make a big dent in terrorism, which is a hot topic in the western world. And while single person or small-group driven crime is a greater threat to the world, most of our actions to circumvent 'villainy' goes unrecorded. We are suffering for our low profile, while Hench has prime time commercials."

"I refuse to run this organization like a business," frowned Dr. Director. "Human lives and justice do not have a price tag."

"I concur," nodded Will. "I'm only stating the real world factors affecting us."

"Isn't anyone else worried that we're financing our enemy?" asked Wade, rejoining the conversation. "I mean, 212 million dollars is a lot of money, and there's no guarantee that Hench isn't just going to use it to build a huge bomb to sell to Professor Dementor or just use it himself to ask for control of the world."

"Also, Shego has demonstrated exceptional ability and intelligence in the paast," Agent Du added. "If there were an enemy to be afraid of having the power to carry out her wishes, it would be Shego. What assurances do we have that she's not tricking everyone."

Dr. Director looked to the window and watched as Kim stuck her lip out at Shego who turned and put her hand over her mouth with a smile. The two started laughing together, completely oblivious as to the discussion going on in the next room. Betty almost wished she could be that way again.

"They seem like close friends," she said, finally. "Did anyone see that coming? How did that happen? I thought we were watching Kim at her university."

Wade and Will shook their heads as they looked on.

"If it's not all an act," she continued, "then I guess we're supposed to trust that Kim wouldn't let her come here without a legitimate offer."

"She betrayed us last time," said Wade. "She attacked the PossiBots and forcefully aborted our mission to--"

"Oh, give it up, Agent Load," snapped Dr. Director, turning away. "We betrayed her. She only attacked our agents to stop it from getting out of hand. I know you took it personally, but the truth is that the Op never should have happened." She turned her eye to Du. "You know that too."

"Yes, sir," nodded Will. "But she still should have told us instead of handling it herself."

Dr. Director looked back to Kim and Shego laughing in the conference room. "I think that's what she's doing now."

Will looked back and forth between the Director and the window showing the conference room. "You're going to accept the offer, aren't you?"

Dr. Director nodded. "Get legal in here, so we can hammer out the details."


	4. Stress Fracture, Part I

Author's Note: This part of 'A Period of Silence' is starting to get a little long, and since I've just been assigned a project at work where I'll be responsible for writing about 150 pages of technical documentation over the next two weeks, I doubt I'm going to have enough brain cells leftover to dump on this story. So, in light of the potential upcoming delay, I'm going to be presenting this 'Part' of the story in three sections, hopefully to be released over the next month or so. Thanks for reading!

----------------

Disney's Kim Possible in

**A Period of Silence**

By Adam Leigh

Part Three:

"Stress Fracture"

----------------

Shego had learned many things during her somewhat turbulent relationship with her former foe, the least of which was that when Kim became obsessed with something, nothing, short of a 'very special episode,' was going to wave her off from her objective.

The first time that Shego was exposed to this tautology was when Kim announced she'd gotten sick of the ex-villain's classic color scheme and insisted that Shego wear something red. Initially, Shego thought it was laughable, she'd made a very distinct style for herself and she was not going to compromise it. But then the complaining started, first as comments whenever they met, eventually leading up to full out arguments on the merits of varying style with respect to maintaining secrecy of her location and maintaining her current bedmate. Eventually Shego caved and wore a sleek, curve-hugging red dress on one of their dates. It was a nice dress that cost Shego more than a little cash and ultimately ended up in pieces on the floor less than a minute after the two returned to Kim's dorm after dinner.

Coincidentally, that was also the night Shego learned there were benefits to losing an argument.

None of the times Shego came into conflict with Kim's obsessions before, however, had prepared her for the abruptness of the argument she gotten into the previous day.

"What do you mean, no?" asked Shego, more than a little perplexed. "Don't I get any say in this?"

"Not really," Kim shook her head as she sipped her latte. They were sitting in the Café Carlitos drinking coffee before Kim's classes, one of many times during the day and week they started regularly meeting at now that Shego didn't have to look over her shoulder for the police every five minutes.

"Look, Princess," said Shego, leaning on the arm of the overstuffed chair she was sitting in. "I realize things have been changing quickly since this HenchCo thing, but I'm going to keep more than an inch of personal space, whether you want me to or not."

"I have no problem with that," Kim simply said. She looked up from the textbook she was studying for her macroeconomics test the next day. "I'm not moving in."

"I would think not," agreed Shego.

"I wanna see it though," the redhead nodded. "Maybe inaugurate it a little," she added coyly.

"It's just..." Shego struggled for words. "It's not ready yet. For you. I'm still having all my stuff moved from the various storage lots and hideouts I've had." Shego sighed. "Let's just keep things as they've been until the new year."

Kim raised an eyebrow and looked Shego right in the eyes. "Shego, for the last eight months, Beth has been graciously letting us randomly kick her out of her OWN dorm for our ... time together."

"I know that," said Shego, irritated.

"Now that you have a place of your own, with no roommates, that's not going to fly anymore." Kim shook her head. "Actually, the last month of you being around almost constantly has driven her slightly up the wall."

"She never said anything," protested the raven-haired woman. "I thought she was happy for us."

"She _is_ happy!" exclaimed Kim. "But only that you beat the law so we can be together, not that she's been sleeping in the lounge."

"Hrm," grumbled Shego.

"Anyway, I don't see what the big deal is," said Kim, finishing off her drink. "What's the worst that your house could be? Messy? Please, like any of Drakken's lairs was the pinnacle of cleanliness."

"It's just that..." Shego hesitated. "It's mine."

"I thought most of it belonged to Hench," asked Kim.

"Well, the loan's in his name," the pale woman admitted. "Even though Interpol isn't distributing my name anymore I still wouldn't be able to get a bank to give me a positive credit rating." She looked out the large windows at the morning sky. "It's just that... I've never had a home before. Even when I was young. I'm just afraid I'm going to break the illusion and it'll all disappear."

Kim paused, looking thoughtful, then stood and moved to sit on the arm of Shego's chair. Wrapping her arm around the shoulders of the ex-thief, she hugged her gently. "It's all real, you don't have to worry," she said, kindly.

Shego patting Kim's arm softly. "I know."

"But you should keep in mind," added Kim. "If we don't start spending at least a little time away from my dorm, Beth will murder me in my sleep."

Shego laughed and nodded wordlessly.

Afterwards they set up a time to meet the next day. Thursday. '_Their'_ day, as it had been for the first six months of their relationship. Shego was nervous the whole morning for reasons she couldn't comprehend.

After Kim's last final for the semester, Shego was waiting for her outside the academic building in her car.

"Come on, Princess," she said waving the test-weary student over. Kim only gaped at the Cadillac for a moment before jumping into the passenger seat.

"Perk of work?" asked Kim, tossing her books onto the back seat.

"Are you kidding?" smiled Shego. "Hench wanted me to have some old man's Buick. I insisted on a convertible. It's not like I'm poor, anyway."

"Just don't leave this thing parked at the university," joked Kim. "There's about a zero percent chance it'll be there when you get back."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Shego as she put the car in gear.

The trip was brief, which was one of Shego's considerations when looking for a house near the university. She wanted easy access to the school while still being within a handful of miles from where Hench had set up her office. The final restriction was the location of the GJ development facility she would be interacting with, but that turned out to be a non-issue. Dr. Director wasn't going to be giving her access to that location and instead offered her access to the nearby Northeast headquarters. It seemed a little strange to deny her access to a development facility but grant authority to enter headquarters until Shego realized that the HQ was not only the location of the largest number of agents but also their most secure jails.

Shego pulled up to the house and parked on the street to give Kim a good look at the exterior. The house was modest for the street, but definitely a step above the 50's style ranch that Kim's parents had. The house was a two story colonial with a pair of white columns in the front to either side of the front door. A single car garage came off to one side, causing the driveway to turn sharply left near the entrance, and apparently had a room above it as the roof was even with the rest of the house. The windows were new, and adorned with dark gray shutters on the light green siding. On the opposite side of the house to the garage a semi-circular extension sprouted, extending to both floors. The half-moon shape had large arched windows covering the majority of its height.

Kim blinked, simply. "Wow," she said, impressed.

Shego smiled and headed for the front door. Kim followed, casually looking around at the neighborhood, which featured similarly sized but differently styled houses. Shego's was far from the only colonial, but there were several other ranches and split levels on the street as well, ending with a gated property and a long drive to a manor on the hill. Kim idly wondered if that was Jack Hench's house, but dismissed the idea as she knew HenchCo HQ was closer to Middleton than her university.

Stepping side, Kim realized why Shego wanted to wait until she'd had more time to settle in. The first floor was mostly vacant of anything to show her personality. The kitchen had a large oak table that was probably as old as the house, with a set of folding chairs around it and little else. A living room had an oversized couch in it and a flat screen television but no tables, stands, or decoration. A pair of large, dark double doors appeared to lead into the half-moon shaped extension but they were closed.

"I don't want you in there," Shego said when she spied Kim approaching the doors. The redhead froze and boggled at her companion. Because of the open design of the first floor, from the kitchen Shego could see just about the entirety of the floor. The former thief was making a pair of apple martini's but clearly keeping an eye on Kim's wandering.

"Why not?" Kim said, raising an eyebrow. "Hatching some villainous plot to take over the world from in there?"

"Please," dismissed Shego with a wave of her hand. "Yes, I keep all my nefarious equipment in the room with the giant windows. That'll ensure my privacy."

"Then you'll have no problem with me taking a look," the younger girl turned back towards the doors.

"That's just my study," supplied Shego as she poured the green concoction into two martini glasses.

"You have a study?" Kim said, shocked. "What, you _study?_"

"Okay, you're not winning any awards here in our relationship today." The black and green dressed girl handed a martini to Kim with one hand while casually shuffling her away from the double doors with the other.

"And you're definitely failing to keep me from being interested in what's in that room." Kim sipped the drink and noted it was on the strong side. It was also a gin martini, which had been Shego's favorite, where as Kim usually preferred vodka. She swallowed the bitter beverage. "If you had just said it was dusty, I probably wouldn't have thought twice but now you've got me interested."

"Well, get disinterested," snapped Shego as she went into the kitchen to retrieve the other glass.

Kim paused. "I'm sorry, Sheeg," she said honestly. "I was just teasing you."

Shego grumbled something then headed for the living room. Kim glanced once at the doors and then followed. Once they reached the couch, they plopped down together and Kim tried to let the day drain out of her. Her finals, of which she had two on her last day, were finally over and all she really wanted to do is relax, not argue with her lover.

"It's all right if it was just teasing," said Shego suddenly. Kim had tipped her head back to rest it on the couch pillows but she looked up when she heard Shego speak. "But I shouldn't have to..." she hesitated. "I'm not going to lie to you to manipulate you or ask you to do something I know you wouldn't normally do. You have to start trusting me, pumpkin. I'm getting tried of you asking me to explain every decision I make."

Kim nodded solemnly and Shego looked into her worried eyes. "Hey, it's okay," she said reassuringly. She leaned slightly against Kim for emphasis. "I told you before. I have to have a little space to myself. I've still got a need to be independent in some ways and one of those is having a little place where I'm the only one allowed."

Kim looked up. "I get it," she said softly. "I didn't mean to make it seem like I don't trust you. I just get suspicious when I think things are being hidden from me."

Shego smirked. "Still the hero."

"Maybe," Kim said, smiling slightly and moving her face closer to Shego's. "But I'm chasing you for a completely different reason."

"You'd have to be," said Shego confidently. "Otherwise I'd never let you catch me."

"'_Let_ me catch you?'" repeated Kim. "As if. You'd only get away if I let you escape."

"Please, princess, you can stand toe to toe with me but you know I'd win out in the end."

"Win out?" asked Kim, incredulously. "I've beaten you many times before!"

"You beat Drakken's plans," corrected Shego. "If I was fighting for me, and just for me, you couldn't lay a finger on me."

"Oh, is that right?" quizzed Kim. "What about Bueno Nacho, hmm?"

"You didn't beat me," said Shego. "You cheated. AND you had that crazy suit." Shego paused for a moment. "Speaking of which, what ever happened to that thing?"

The liveliness drained out of Kim and she looked away. "I ... lost it."

"Lost it?" asked Shego, frowning. "What, in the laundry?"

"It was... stolen," said Kim, awkwardly. "From my parent's house by Maya Tromper."

Shego's eyes went wide. "Oh," she said, barely above a whisper. "I didn't know." She looked around awkwardly for a few moments, then added, "You never talk about her, really."

"I don't really like to," said Kim, sipping her drink. "You'll be at GJ, though, so if you really need to know just find out from them."

"I'm sure they're not going to let me dig through their files un-chaperoned," Shego said dryly.

"Undoubtedly electronic security has reached a new zenith under Wade's watchful eye, but probably still vulnerable to a resourceful thief," she looked at Shego expectantly. "Of course, you are an _ex_-thief."

"Oh yes," nodded Shego. "Very _ex_. I would never dream of dropping that prefix." She looked to the side. "Well, not that anyone could prove, anyway."

"Uh-huh," mused Kim, staring off towards the large bay windows at the front of the house. She nestled against Shego, letting the warmth of the elder woman comfort her.

Shego stared ahead, lost in thought, and gently stroked Kim's hair. After a few moments she sipped her martini and looked slightly down at the redhead. "Do you want me to find out?" she asked. "About Tromper. Is it something I need to know?"

Kim furrowed her brow but didn't move. "Not really," she said softly.

"Then I won't," said Shego with a nod. "You can trust me."

Kim slowly nodded, then closed her eyes and put an arm around Shego's waist. The two held each other closely, sitting quietly on the large sofa, watching the golden rays of the slowly setting sun until it vanished below the horizon.

------

At night, there were rarely more than a dozen people in the Global Justice Midwest Headquarters command center. While the organization was absolutely a twenty-four hour affair, there was a series of rotating HQ offices that took command of global activities at different times of the day and night. Since, globally, United States Midwest was the seat of all of GJ's operations, it retained global control between six in the morning and eight at night. But after then, it moved to Sapporo, then Brussels, then back to Middleton, aka Midwest HQ. The governing philosophy being that while there could be people trained to be awake on an opposite schedule as most people in the US, they couldn't have the whole staff on duty. Even those they found to be moved to an alternate schedule would be the best the espionage agency had to offer and that was unacceptable.

So night in the command center was, effectively, night like any other company with global holdings. Enough staff for support, enough staff to wake the critical staff in an emergency, and the odd late-nighter lingering around until they passed out.

Naturally, Dr. Elizabeth Director was one of the latter. Despite the organizational scheme of GJ, she couldn't really keep herself out of the affairs of the other offices during the night. She had too much of a controlling personality to ever really let anyone manage anything without keeping an eye on their progress. She wouldn't intervene unless it was appropriate or she was asked but she had to _know_, otherwise how could she be an effective leader?

Unfortunately, tonight was proving to be one of those harrowing nights where everything was going smoothly. Betty hated those, if only because it took her the better part of the night to convince herself to go home and do her remaining work in the morning.

"I'm going home," Betty announced to the command floor. Six people were there tonight. Three were technicians, two were operating the monitoring stations that spat gobs of global and local information onto the twenty-six foot tall intractable screen at the front of the room, and the last was an agent commander, just two steps below the second in command Agent Du.

"Finally assured that nothing is wrong with the world tonight?" asked the towering Commander Al Ferris. He would be placed in command with Betty's departure so he picked up the evening log and walked it over to her for her to sign as she descended the stairs from her suspended glass office.

"There's plenty wrong with the world," said Betty, paging briefly through the clipboard before signing the top sheet. "There's just nothing I can do tonight about it." She handed the clipboard over to the agent in charge. "Be sure to have our G-Project technicians on call at GJ Northeast and make sure internal security is appraised. Shego will be there tomorrow."

"Not making the trip yourself?" asked Commander Ferris, tucking the clipboard under his arm.

Dr. Director sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "I can't watch her forever. As long as Ms. Possible vouches for her, I'll give her a little slack."

"Very well, sir," nodded the commander. "Have a good--"

"Director?" a technician interrupted from his console in the third row in the command center.

"The 'Director' has retired for the night," said Betty with a smile. She patted Ferris on the back.

"What is it, agent?" asked the commander as Betty turned to leave.

"I have an agent from Communications with something strange to report," the technician said, uneasily. "I can patch him to the screen."

"Where?" asked Ferris, frowning. "Tokyo?"

"Uh, here, sir," replied the agent. "Floor twenty-eight."

"Here?" asked Betty, turning just before reaching the door. Her eye was wide. "There's something strange going on here?"

"I'm patching him through," said the technician.

Moments later a window popped up on the main screen with a video feed showing an aged man, probably in his late sixties, wearing a dirty labcoat and cleaning his glasses. The identifier tag at the bottom of the window held a barcode and the name 'Dr. Francis Garrick, PhD." He pushed his thin framed lenses onto his nose and nodded.

"Dr. Director," he said casually, pushing his hands into his grimy pockets.

"Dr. Garrick," said Betty, stepping up beside Ferris. "You're looking... unkempt."

"I apologize Director," the elderly man said with a half nod. "I was just in the crawlspace above corridor J-17a, it's not... entirely sanitary."

"What were you doing there, Doctor?" asked Ferris.

"Uh, well, I was searching for a class F disturbance in our internal relay network." The doctor pulled out a notepad from his coat and began fumbling through it. "We were testing our high-output wireless communications protocol when we encountered a sympathetic signal that was disrupting our receptors along J-wing." He paused in his search and ran his finger down a page full of scribbles. "We were receiving a ... yeah, a -0.753 cancellation effect. We don't, uh, we don't have anything operating that close to the network protocol so I went looking for it."

"And you found it in a crawlspace in J-wing?" asked Ferris, incredulously.

"Yeah, that's right," nodded the doctor on the screen. He began digging in his pockets again.

"What's in J-wing?" mused Ferris to Betty. "Non-hazardous storage, equipment lockup, galley, food stock, conference rooms E-11 through F-16--"

"Long term care," added Betty. "Infirmary II."

"Even then, it's far from a sensitive area of the base. In fact, it's probably one of the least."

"Ah, here it is," came Garrick's voice. Betty and Al looked up at the screen. The doctor was holding up a small cube-like device with a small pair of antennae on one side. It looked like a miniature television. "This is what I found up there. It's really small, but pretty incredible. It was piggybacking our wireless signal until we boosted the density of our transmission and it could no longer hide effectively. I'm not entirely sure what it does, but--"

The sound of papers hitting the ground caused Ferris to turn and look at Betty. Her work had fallen out of her grasp as she stared opened jawed at the screen.

"Director?" cautiously asked Ferris.

"Cale!" she suddenly burst out. The technician who had reported the call earlier suddenly perked up and turned to listen. "I want to see a close-up of that thing. Snap a shot and zoom."

Betty raced down to the front of the room as the screen changed to show a large picture of the cube-like device being held by Dr. Garrick. Betty stepped back to get a good look at the silver box. Her eyes traced it's straight lines and lingered at each of the corners.

"Betty?" Garrick asked softly as he came up behind her. She spun on him.

"It's a Luminocodec!" she said, angrily.

"A what?" asked Garrick.

Betty turned to the side, lost in thought for a moment. "That's why it was in J-wing, close to where Long Term Care is."

"Um, Director," said the commander. "I'm a little confused as to what's--"

"_Allucinere_ is in Long Term Care!" yelled Betty. "Get a detail down there NOW! I'll meet them there!" She bounded out of the command center, her papers discarded and forgotten.

As she ran full tilt through the base, Betty couldn't help but criticize herself. Of course she's always kept an eye on everything, it was the best way to know what was going on. But there were some people, devious people, for which merely keeping an eye on was just the same as not watching at all.

Betty got to the J-wing corridor near junction 17 and noticed a full squad of security agents waiting for her. At her arrival, the nearest six saluted immediately while the remaining four stood watching the door to Long Term Care or the hallway for any sign of movement. Betty wanted to scream at how meaningless the vigil was in this circumstance, but she couldn't get over the guilt that she'd been fooled under the same pretense.

Or maybe not, Betty thought. She had to hold up hope that maybe, just maybe, the Luminocodec was old, and a remnant from when Allucinere was first caught. It was a distant hope but she tried to cling to it, as it was the only way she was able to gather the courage to step into the ward.

Immediately after entering the now well guarded door, Betty was assaulted with the stench of medicine. The Long Term Care ward was a special facility in the GJ base for the unfortunate victims of irreparable harm over the course of a GJ operation. Half of the patients here were agents themselves once upon a time, while the other half was split between civilians and obsessed villains.

The people here weren't injured, they were devastated. Some in comas, some with high levels of brain damage, some experiencing time at an alternate pace than the rest of the world. All of them the result of mad science and perfect examples of why the world's greatest minds need to be restrained with the most rigid of laws regarding human experimentation. Betty hated this facility because of the stench, but she hated it more because each person was a time when GJ got there just a little too late.

Walking solemnly through the ward, Betty moved to the end, to the only bed behind hefty steel bars and containing a rather petit woman with long red hair, covered up to her chin with a blanked and hooked up to a least three machines supposedly monitoring her comatose state.

Betty stared, searing the image onto her eye, watching the body in the bed for any sign something was amiss. The blanket moved regularly with her breaths, the machines responded appropriately, there was even a slight gust of air brushing across her hair as the security agents quickly shuffled behind Betty.

Without blinking, Betty stared, unable to take her eye away for a moment. There would be a sign of some sort of she was right, and nothing if she was wrong. God she hoped she was wrong. She didn't need this to happen today. She didn't want to have to deal with this threat again. She didn't want to have to go back to Kim and tell her, "Gee, not only did we screw up once with this girl--"

And then, the image of the girl in the bed flickered just for a microsecond.

Betty felt like she could cry.

------

"Shego!" yelled Kim from her table at the Rhino Chops, the decidedly bizarre name for a fantastic sandwich and salad place just three blocks from the campus apartments. She was having lunch with Kelly Wellings, a girl from her macroeconomics class, but she stood and waved down her green ex-thief as soon as she caught sight of her at the door.

Shego noticed the redhead immediately and started wading through the crowds of post-finals students alternating between delight for their conclusion and absolute depression over the certainty of failure. Shego could care less and shoved both types of people out of her way with equal, and probably excessive, force. Reaching Kim, they two briefly hugged (an action that Kim had not only insisted was more _acceptable_ in public than a kiss between two women, but made clear was _expected_ from her bedmate) and Shego sat, waving over a waiter for an iced tea and a club.

After a brief bout of introductions, Kim raised an eyebrow. "So, what are you doing her?"

Shego blinked. "Was I not welcome?"

"She's afraid you might have some concept of the global marketplace and therefore easily do better on her economics test than she did," said Kelly, dryly. She poked at her salad a few times before taking another bite.

"Hey!" protested Kim. "I knew... some of what was on that test."

"I'm not really all that interested in how the global economy works," admitted Shego. "If things from here sell higher in Switzerland, then I'm a happy girl."

Kim frowned.

"Well, I _was_ anyway," shrugged Shego.

"Answer my question," Kim said coldly.

"What am I doing here?" repeated Shego. "I'm not entirely sure. I was kept out of ... uh," she eyed Kim's friend. "Betty's this morning because of some security issue. Jack told me to linger around until I get the go ahead from the director."

"Security issue?" asked Kim. "Think it was serious?"

"It's only my second week," the thief said as her drink arrived and she took a sip. "I couldn't tell you what's regular over there yet."

Kim mused silently as she poked at her salad. Kelly turned to look at Shego. "So, I'm surprised I got to meet you," she said casually.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked the raven-haired woman.

"Kim had always been rather vague when talking about you," explained the taller brunette. "I was curious if you were real."

"Oh, I'm all real," said Shego instinctively, then hesitated. "That sounded strange."

"I wasn't going to say anything," started Kelly. "But, yeah."

"Almost like a come-on," said Shego, curiously.

"Again, not saying anything." The girl took another bite of her salad.

"Stop flirting," commented Kim, coming back to the conversation.

"I'm not!" protested Shego.

"She's definitely not," agreed Kelly.

Shego looked back at Kelly with a frown. "Now what's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"It means you're not flirting with me," replied Kelly. "What else is it supposed to mean?"

"You said it like I couldn't possibly ever flirt with you," explained Shego. "Like I'm beneath you."

Kelly looked around the restaurant suspiciously, then leaned closer to Shego. "Do you _want_ to be flirting with me?" she asked, curiously.

"No!"

"Then I don't see what the problem is," concluded Kelly, finishing her salad.

Shego opened and closed her mouth a few times before turning to Kim. "I don't like your friends."

"Tough," said Kim, throwing her napkin in her salad bowl. "We should talk about Christmas."

"We definitely should not," said emphatically as her club sandwich arrived. "It won't end well for you, trust me." The server took Kim and Kelly's finished salads.

"You said you'd come visit," said Kim, pointing a finger across the table. "And I won't have you breaking your word."

"First off," Shego explained between bites of turkey. "Breaking my word is hardly news. And secondly, I don't exactly have fond memories of Middleton. I'd lay odds your father would think I was kidnapping you if I even showed up."

"Eh, he thinks you're with the circus," said Kim with a wave of her hand.

"Kidnapping? Circus?" Kelly looked puzzled between the two girls.

"We had an interesting time growing up," said Kim.

"Growing up?" repeated Kelly. She pointed at Shego. "Aren't you like, way older than Kim?"

"_Way_ older?" exclaimed Shego.

"Let's not go there," Kim nervously said.

"How old, exactly, do you think I am?" snarled Shego.

Kim stood and grabbed Shego's arm. "We're leaving."

"I dunno, twenty-nine? Thirty?" mused Kelly.

Shego's fists flared green and Kim quickly grabbed her forearms and twisted them behind her back. "Sorry, gotta run," Kim apologized to Kelly while dragging Shego away.

"Let me go!" yelled the raving girl. "I just want to _fix_ her eyes!"

"Let's go, Sparky," grumbled Kim, finally pulling Shego through the door. Her hands felt like they were burning and she looked down to see them engulfed in Shego's green flames that were quickly expanding up her arms.

"Yow!" Kim yelled, and immediately let go of Shego, waving her hands around franticly.

Shego spun and noticed the lingering glow on Kim's hands and felt her angry immediately dry up. "Don't panic!" she said insistently, moving around trying to catch Kim's eye. "It's gone! Just calm down!"

Kim slowed and looked back down at her hands again. They were red from the heat but not blistering and were slowly fading back to their original color. She breathed deeply and looked back up at Shego. Her eyes instantly looked panicked again. "Hey!" she pointed.

"Wha?" asked Shego, confused and looked down to see her arms engulfed in green flames from her fists to her shoulders.

"Oh," she said flatly. She closed her eyes and scrunched up her face in concentration before the green energies died down and eventually vanished. A bead of sweat trickled down her face as she opened her eyes again. "Better?"

Kim blinked. "What the hell was that? I've never seen you do that before."

"Sorry," shrugged Shego as she turned to walk away from the restaurant back towards campus.

"Sorry?" echoed Kim as she ran to catch up. She looked up at the face of her lover and tried to read the expression she wore there. The best she could come up with was: guilty. Kim frowned. "Seriously, what's going on?"

"Nothing is going on," said Shego looking away. "I just lost control for a second. It's not a big deal."

"Lost control?" repeated Kim.

"Can you please stop that," said Shego, irritated.

"Stop what?"

"Stop repeating everything I say like a question!" Shego threw her arms in the air in frustration and started walking faster. Kim hesitated then matched her strides. Shego scowled at her. "I just got a little carried away because your 'friend' Kelly is a jerk."

"Well, you wouldn't be the first to say so," said Kim lightly, trying to improve the mood.

Beep-beep-be-beep!

Shego's eyes went wide as she spun on her foot to stare at Kim, who wilted slightly. "It's just a cell phone," the redhead said weakly. She pulled out the simple metallic clamshell and flipped it open. "What's the..." she paused. "I mean, hey, Beth. What's up?"

"Kim," the voice on the other end said urgently. "You need to come down here to the Quad right away!"

"What? Why?" Kim furrowed her brow.

"There's been this guy here asking crazily for you for the last half-hour and he's dressed... a little strangely," said Beth. "And he's wearing a mask."

"That doesn't narrow it down for me," explained Kim. "Nobody has said anything, have they?"

"About you? No, not really. But he didn't give up until..." she trailed off.

"What is it?" asked Kim, listening closer on the phone.

"He just collapsed!" Beth suddenly yelled. "I gotta go, hon, and call campus health. Bye!"

"Wai--" started Kim but the line was already closed.

"What was that?" asked Shego, trying not to sound curious.

"We gotta get back to the apartments," Kim said, stuffing her phone in her pants. "I think someone just got hurt."

She started to run, but was grabbed after the second step and pulled back. Kim looked at the hand holding her then stared up at Shego's serious face.

"Shego, what do you think--"

"Are you sure you want to go?" asked Shego plainly. "You know where this road ends if you do."

Kim locked eyes with Shego and found herself a sudden prisoner in her fierce gaze. Shego was being stern but there was just a hint of sympathy behind her green gaze. Kim had to force herself to blink.

"I don't want to be involved like I was," she finally said. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to compromise my morals to stay away."

Shego nodded. "I just want to make sure you know what we're getting into."

Kim smiled slightly and put her hand over Shego's. "Thank you."

The ex-thief slowly released her grip. "Let's go then," she announced and started running. Kim only watched her for a second before following.

By the time they reached the Quad, a courtyard between three of the major apartment towers at the university, a crowd had already gathered. Kim suspected it was the man who Beth called her earlier about but she was caught completely off guard at the figure she saw thrashing despite the best efforts of the paramedics that had arrived.

Shego was equally as surprised.

"Hego!" Shego yelled as soon as she saw the blue and black outfit. She pushed her way immediately through the crowd, knocking people left and right until she came to the three paramedics wearily trying to grab ahold of the constantly moving form. Another paramedic was nearby, nursing what appeared to be a broken nose.

"What happened?" asked Shego as she reached the medics. She tried to get in closer but her brother's flailing made it hard. Blood was spilled in many places, partly from the paramedics broken nose and partly, Shego now realized, from the blood dripping from Hego's own nose.

"He's having some sort of a seizure," one of the medics responded, a young man with short brown hair and a goatee. "But he's a beast, we can't get him still long enough to restrain him."

Hego gurgled sickly but his eyes caught a hold of Shego kneeling nearby. Kim had made her way through the crowd by now and was trying to get in closer.

"Siiiister!" Hego screamed in agony. He whole body twisted and turned under unseen forces. "It's ... tearing ... me apart!" he yelled cryptically.

Shego paled and stood up suddenly. "He's not having a seizure," she announced and quickly wound up and kicked her brother hard in the ribs causing him to spasm and roll over onto his stomach.

"Shego!" scolded Kim but the green girl wouldn't listen.

Shego dropped her knees onto Hego's back hard and he sputtered in pain but remained under her grip. She grabbed ahold of the back of the hero's jumpsuit and pulled quickly, tearing a long, large gash across the back.

Kim stared in almost revulsion at the writhing mass beneath Hego's skin. It looked like his muscles were twisting and move on their own, with no regard to how they normally should be working. His skin writhed and pulsated as if an army of ants lived beneath it all. Unsure of what was going on, Kim could only watch in silence as Shego suddenly pressed her fingers up Hego's spine, her lips moving silently as she counted.

After a few counts and recounting, Shego lifted up her hand with her fingers together and pointing towards the area she'd just had her fingers on. Her fingers exploded with green energy, shocking the nearby paramedics into scrambling away from the green flame wielding woman. Completely ignorant of everyone else around her, Shego narrowed her eyes and slightly adjusted her flaming fingers before moving.

Her hand shot down like an arrow striking Hego's back and immediately slicing the sturdy skin with her energy-enhanced claws. Her fingers dug at least an inch or so into her brother's body and Kim winced at the brutal scream that he bellowed for just over three seconds before suddenly dying away. Kim immediately reached out a hand to restrain Shego when the shaking mass of flesh that was Hego began to calm and relax. His body slowed its movement then stopped alto her, save for small signs of breathing.

Shego pulled her hand away and got off her brother's back. A small bead of blood ran down her hand as the only sign of what she'd just done. When she'd stepped back beside Kim and away from Hego, the paramedics converged on him and began taking his vitals and administering drugs.

Shego wiped her hand on her pants and looked at her brother with a sympathetic look. Her breathing was steady but her eyes were racing around the scene at lightning speed.

Kim looked at Shego and was completely at a loss to figure out what to do next. She wasn't even sure what had just happened. But if she knew anything right now, it's that Shego had that look on, the one that meant any question Kim asked would be the wrong one. Torn between her desire to know, and her knowledge that Shego wouldn't tell her if she asked, Kim only stood in silence, waiting for something to break the status quo.

"Kim!" a voice called from behind the crowd. Many of the looker-ons had been as shocked as Kim was and were saying very little as Hego was being examined by the three remaining paramedics. So the voice of Beth, Kim's roommate, was clear as day.

Kim turned in time to see Beth push her way through the crowd. "What just happened?"

Kim stood with he mouth slightly open for several moments, just on the verge of speaking with each second, before finally turning her gaze to Shego. "I'm not sure," was all Kim could say. Shego turned to look at Kim and in the instant their eyes met, Kim knew something was wrong, something dreadful.

"Shego..." started Kim but she couldn't figure out what to follow it with.

"I need to go," Shego said emotionlessly. "Please," she insisted, "watch my dumb brother for me." Without waiting for an answer, she turned and fled.

"Shego!" Kim called afterwards but to no avail.

"Ma'am," one of the paramedics tapped Kim on the shoulder just as she was considering running after her lover. The ex-heroine turned and looked up at the brown-haired paramedic. "Do you know this man?" he asked.

"Yes," nodded Kim. "Kinda. What's wrong?"

The medic sighed. "I'm not really sure," he said. "I'm not positive it wasn't a seizure but based on what just happened, it would have to be a remarkable coincidence that it ended at the same time that woman attacked him."

"She didn't attack him," said Kim forcefully. She was so lost and confused right now she clung the few scraps of her life she knew and could act on. Her desire to defend Shego was an easy one. "She was ... she was helping."

"It seemed to quell the shakes," agreed the paramedic. "I don't know why, though. We need to take him to a hospital to get tests done. As the only contact we have at the moment, you need to come with us."

Kim shivered involuntarily. She didn't like hospitals that much these days, not since... "O-okay," she nodded. The paramedic turned to see that Hego had been put onto a stretcher and lifted into the ambulance. Kim swallowed and followed the paramedic silently back to the ambulance.


	5. Stress Fracture, Part II

Author's Note: I'm back, just slightly later than expected.

Just as a warning, as a rule of thumb, in my writing, I try to keep my technobabble just this side of realistic because I think if sci-fi or fantasy isn't at least trying to justify itself to the real world, it's not showing enough respect for the audience.

That being said, some of the science in this part is just short being B-movie material. Nobody gets hit with 'gamma rays' or anything, but I've realized that some of the scientific parts of this series have been drifting a bit too far from realism and I'm a little embarrassed. It's all internally consistent though, so just take it with a grain of salt, please.

Thanks! After this segment, there's one more in "Stress Fracture" before we move onto the beginning of the end of A Period of Silence.

----------------

Disney's Kim Possible in

**A Period of Silence**

By Adam Leigh

Part Three:

"Stress Fracture"

(Continued)

----------------

------

The morning sun broke without a sound and bathed the narrow, sterile hospital room in a warm yellow light. Kim, awakened by the direct sunlight on her face, squinted at the strangely glowing curtains and picked her head up to look around. She'd fallen asleep in the only semi-comfortable chair that had been placed in Hego's hospital room and now several parts of her body were calling out in discomfort.

Sliding out of the chair, Kim tried to stretch herself back into shape but her muscles protested adamantly. She felt horrible and was quite sure, with her disheveled hair and clothes from yesterday, she looked it too. Running her hand through her hair to pull some of the tangles loose, Kim leaned against the wall and looked closer around the room for the sign that _she'd_ been here.

The tests and examinations of Hego had run late into the night and were punctuated periodically by questions to Kim about the patient's life. Kim tried to get them to understand that she knew next to nothing about Hego, apart from his relationship to Shego. Kim figured that the doctors suspected she was lying. Why else would a woman spend the entire night in the hospital room of a man she barely knew?

Kim couldn't tell them that she was only hanging around because she was hoping Shego would stop (or sneak) in and then she could get answers to a few of her own questions. Surveying the room closely and tapping into whatever tracking skills she'd developed over the years of tailing bad guys led her to believe that Shego hadn't come at all.

Sighing, Kim went into the bathroom and tried to wash as much of the ick off herself as possible. With no spare clothes and only a hand towel to use, there was only a little she could do. After slightly straightening up her hair, Kim stepped back into the hospital room and was surprised to find herself not alone.

"Good morning, doctor... uh..." started Kim then trailed off when she noticed the blonde man was not the same as the midnight MRI technician. She tried to recover as best she could, anyway. "I'm sorry, what was your name again?"

"Justin Calley," said the doctor, moving over to look briefly at Hego's vitals. "You can just call me Justin," he said. "You must be Kim Possible. I've heard a little about you."

"Ah, most people have," admitted Kim, then felt silly saying so. "I used to be on the television quite a lot."

"Really?" asked Justin. "I'm not sure about that, but I have talked to your mother once or twice."

"You know my mother?" asked Kim, a little surprised.

The doctor nodded. "Yes, I met her at a WHO conference in Sydney a couple years back. "Racial Diversity in the Susceptibility to Meningitis was her topic, although she talked quite about her daughter who would be stunning the college world soon afterwards." He looked at Hego. "I didn't think this was what she meant by stunning."

"I was just helping out," said Kim, quickly. "I don't know what's wrong with him."

The doctor smiled. "I know." He looked at his clipboard. "It says here that someone you were with performed some impromptu surgery on the street. Can you tell me more about that?"

Kim bit her lip. "Not really," she said unevenly. "I don't know what she was doing but it seemed like it helped."

"I would say that it did," nodded Calley. "It seems like there's some sort of defect in Mr. Hego's brain. It's sending conflicting messages to the body, causing all of his muscles to try to contract at once, even opposing ones."

Kim shivered. "That sounds terrible."

"His body was literally trying to tear itself apart," commented the doctor, flipping the page on his clipboard. "If it wasn't for his apparently superhuman physical structure, it would have shattered his entire skeleton. A few minutes longer under duress and it probably would have anyway."

"Will he recover?" asked Kim.

Justin sighed and rubbed his nose as he stared at Hego's chart. "Now that's a difficult question." He pulled a long vellum sheet from the chart and held it up to the window. The colored MRI shined splotches of red and blue across the yellowed floor. "I don't entirely understand this mess going on in his brain. To be honest I think we might be better off transferring him to your mother's hospital."

Kim grimaced. "I'm sure my mom doesn't need this headache." She looked at Hego. "Do you have any idea what's wrong with him?"

"It would be easier if he'd ever had a physical done or MRIs prior to now," admitted Justin. "I'm not really sure what's 'normal' for him. But it appears as though he has some sort of a redundant nervous system, a series of supplemental nerves that have grown parallel to the normal ones we all have. I couldn't tell you if that's the result of what's been done to him or what's causing his sickness. To be fair, it could be both."

"I don't understand," Kim shook her head. "Why would he have all that?"

"Well, it's just a hypothesis," the doctor waved the MRI around. "But, you see he's got all this extra muscle all over his body that reinforces his strength and makes him able to pick up cars and small cities and such. I suspect that this 'supplemental' nervous system is what actually controls those 'super' organs, so to speak. When his brain started sending conflicting signals, the 'super' muscles started struggling against his normal ones."

"So how did my friend fix it?" The red headed ex-hero scratched her head. She'd had to listen to a lot of talk about the brain and the central nervous system from her mom growing up. But some of this was confusing her. A body couldn't possibly operate like the way the doctor was describing, could it?

"It's not really fixed," explained Justin. "We did a full body MRI last night and it appears as though there is this cluster of nerves in his lower back that the 'supplemental' system is all tied to. Your friend performed a surgically perfect severing of those nerves and blocked all the conflicting signals going to the 'super' muscles." The doctor walked over to Hego and partially pulled back the sheet that covered him. He was lying on his side to keep off of the large bandage on his back. "There's only one problem." Justin grabbed the edge of the gauze and pulled it slowly away.

Kim gasped.

"He's healing," nodded Justin as he admired the faint scar lines running to the side of Hego's back. They looked like they had been made weeks ago. "Not just his skin either. The nerves are weaving themselves together again. At the rate the damage is repairing itself, he may be back in the same condition by the end of the week. At that point, our only option may be to induce a coma to keep his brain... from..." He trailed off as he looked at Kim, who had her hand to her mouth. "Kim? Are you alright?"

"Those... scars..."

------

"I'm a little confused," said Beth as she held desperately onto her seatbelt as Kim drove out of the city at breakneck speeds. "You have a car?"

"It's Shego's," said Kim quickly.

"Didn't you tell me she's missing?" asked Beth as they took a sharp turn.

"Well, her car isn't."

Kim turned into a smaller development and Beth stared in awe at the upscale buildings. "I hate to be 20 questions," said Beth. "But why am I coming with you again?"

"Mon and Ron are too far away," muttered Kim.

"Ah," grimaced Beth. "Replacement sidekick."

A few seconds later Kim skidded to a stop in front of a large colonial house and Kim nearly leapt out of the car. Beth was quick to follow as they dashed across the grass to the front door. She expected Kim to produce a key or ring the doorbell and was more than a little shocked when she kicked in the door.

"Kim!" yelled Beth.

"I don't have time," Kim yelled as she disappeared into the house. Beth just shook her head and slowly chased behind her.

Inside the house, Kim stopped before a tall pair of white double doors in the living room, leading off to the west. Beth walked up behind her, staring strangely at the empty walls.

"Not much for furniture, is she?" she commented. "What's with the doors?"

"She told me not to go in there," Kim softly said.

"Then you probably shouldn't," warned Beth. "Let every girl have their secrets."

"She was going to tell me about them, but then..." she trailed off.

"What?"

"That fight we had last month. She would have told me if we hadn't gotten into that fight. I'm sure of it." Kim breathed heavily.

"Sure of what?" Beth frowned at her roommate. "What's going on, Kim? You've been going like a runaway train since this morning. I've never seen you act so reckless. Come clean with me and maybe I might be some use on this crusade."

"She has the same scars as Hego," Kim said. "The ones she gave to him yesterday, to make the seizures stop. She's got them too, I've seen them. Only they're messier, jagged." Kim's eyes widened. "She did them to herself."

"What? Why?"

"Whatever's happening to Hego is happening to her," nodded Kim. "She knew about it. She was going to tell me but she didn't have the chance."

"Maybe there's a reason," suggested Beth. "I mean, she had a whole month to bring it up and she didn't. Maybe it's not what you think."

"I know Shego, trust me," assured Kim. "She's trying to handle it herself."

"But you don't want her to."

"No," the ex-hero shook her head. "Now that I know, I can't just leave her alone."

Kim reached out and gripped the doorknob firmly. With a quick breath, she twisted it and yanked it open. Immediately she was hit with a peppery smell that stung her nose and she felt dust heavy wind brush past her cheek. Squinting to keep the dirt from her eyes, she peered ahead at the half-moon room with the tall windows.

"Woah," uttered Beth as the two girls stared slack-jawed at the tall room. "It's a library."

From floor to ceiling, the walls were covered with shelves and most of those shelves were stacked with books. From new to old, books of all ages, sizes, shapes, and bindings stretched high on the walls. Those that were too big to fit in the narrow slots were stacked on the floor in random piles along a simple path towards a desk that was equally overflowing with books and papers.

Kim walked forward almost in a zombie trance towards the desk while Beth continued to gawk. "Who'd have known the trendy thief was a bibliophile, unless she just collects them for the appearance." Beth walked over to the nearest shelf. "Maybe they're all rare or something."

"Beth, look at this," said Kim when she finally reached the desk. The brunette ran a finger along the shelf of battered books, eliciting small plumes of dust, and then stepped quickly over to Kim.

Beth looked down at the desk. "What's all this?" she asked, but she knew most of it already. Maps and diagrams of the human body were stretched out along the surface, some of them printed, others covered with penciled notations. A stack of open books on Chakra teetered to one side while an equally tall stack of open books on human physiology leered to the other. The most messy diagram on the table was marked in red ink and had circled an area in the lower left abdomen.

"She's been trying to figure this out on her own for some time, Kim," realized Beth. "Maybe even before you two ever started being together."

"She hasn't had this house that long," said Kim.

"These books weren't marked yesterday," pointed out the brunette. "In fact, this one is a library book from 2002."

"Zen and the Art of Green Meteor Absorbing," said Kim.

"You're kidding," said Beth in disbelief.

"Yeah," admitted Kim. "But she has it written here on this one diagram."

Beth scanned the pages briefly. "This is pretty intense, Kim, are you sure you don't want to consult a professional?"

"What kind of professional do you think can help?" Kim asked. "The doctor at the hospital was only guessing and even though she's a genius I don't think my mother would really have much more luck." Kim looked around the room, searching for... something. "That meteor changed her, altered her body, mutated her whole body."

"Kim, that level of systemic gene alteration in is the realm of fantasy," Beth shook her head. "Nothing I've learned in my biology studies suggests it's even remotely possible to alter the entirety of a biological system like that without rejection. And even if you got the body to accept it, the brain wouldn't know how to control it. People who are born with extra fingers and toes can't move or feel them, the brain just doesn't know how."

"But I've seen it, Beth, with my own eyes," Kim said, turning. "I've seen things stranger than Shego show up to fight me back in the day. There was this crazy woman named DNAmy who used to splice whole creatures together, different species, ages, none of it mattered. She resurrected dinosaurs once with a scrape of bone dust. I'm fairly certain there's nothing she couldn't bond with a--"

A sudden loud crack interrupted their dialogue and Kim quickly spun on her foot and leapt towards Beth, slamming her to the ground and knocking the wind out of her. As the bespeckled brunette gasped to get air back in her lungs a black ball flew over their heads spraying a grey dust all about. Kim clenched her teeth as she turned to face the doorway where a man complete in jet black combat gear stood with a large barreled cannon of some sort.

Immediately Kim sprang from Beth and leapt into the quickly spreading cloud of gray dust, vanishing almost completely. Beth forced some peppered air down her throat and began coughing violently. Through teary eyes she tried to watch the burly man in combat armor but less than a second after she saw his hazy form through the cloud something human-shaped flew at him and tackled him. The man hit the ground hard and the lithe form sprang away, disappearing into the cloud.

Beth pushed herself up with her arms as she noticed a second, similarly suited man step up to the doorway. He raised his gun, a much smaller weapon than the larger one the first soldier carried, and swept it across the smoke carefully. One of his goggled eyes glowed faintly green as he seemed to focus on something in the gray. He pointed his gun evenly then suddenly jerked to the side to point at something else before being tackled by a shadow from out of nowhere. The second soldier went down just as fast as the first and the shadowy shape simply grabbed both men by the collar and began dragging them away from the door and towards the window.

Beth, finally breathing regularly, although now through her shirt to filter out the dust, scampered over to the large windows and pulled one wide open, letting the breeze in to quickly blow the smoke clear. As the shadows reached the window, Beth made out Kim's angry form dragging the two black suited men.

"Kim..." said Beth, somewhat awed. She'd never seen her roommate 'in action' so to speak, only heard the somewhat unbelievable tales. She'd known of the girl's skill in acrobatics from the sports she'd seen her play at the university, but to see her slight form direct that grace and energy towards a singular goal was just...

"Sad," Kim spat, looking down at the two bruised men. She pulled off the goggles and masks off the men and held one down with her foot while gripping the other by the collar. "You think you could come barging in here, of all places, with little more than body armor and walk out successful? You haven't done your research."

"Um, Kim?" the redhead's roommate said cautiously. "You're talking kind of funny."

"Huh?" frowned Kim. "Oh, uh, I guess Shego's been rubbing off on me a little."

"A little," repeated Beth, slowly.

"Spill it, guys, who hired you to come after Shego?" asked Kim.

"N-nobody," struggled the man propped up by his collar. "We didn't come after Shego."

"No?" asked Kim, a little confused. "You came here following me then?"

The soldier shook his head nervously.

"You're after something in the house," said Kim, nodding.

The scared man just shivered.

"I don't get it," said Beth, now equally confused.

The soldier on the floor rose his hand, but Kim's gaze snapped on him immediately. "What are you doing?" she asked sharply.

"I'm just," started the soldier as he slowly rose a finger to point behind Kim.

"I don't see anything," said Beth, following the finger.

"The door," he whimpered.

"What?"

"You broke the door," continued the man. "You set off the security alarms. We work for HenchCo Security."

------

Elsewhere, a figure equally as graceful and not quite as slight as Kim slunk between the tiny shadows around a tall building on a sunny day. The large, rectangular building stretched far in to the sky and displayed a large pair of letters on the top reading 'GN'. The figure shook its head distastefully and silently slipped around a corner into a loading area for the tower. With little more than a slight scraping of metal, the figure slipped into the shipping area, scaled the unfinished walls, and climbed into a ventilation shaft.

There, Shego took a moment to breathe. It'd been years since she'd done that, far more than she cared to admit, especially around Kim's rude friend Kelly, but she felt good to know it wasn't the slightest bit more difficult. In fact, years of honing her skills had made it slightly easier to slip between shadows in broad daylight, and made her approach quicker and stealthier than her last trip here, all those years ago.

Looking up the shaft, Shego ignited her hand and was not pleased to watch her entire arm light up in a bright inferno. She sighed. She needed her power, needed it now to be at full strength as she did this or else she would have done her makeshift surgery on herself after Hego yesterday. At least it wasn't burning her, the increased green flames, so it was tolerable, if not a little less graceful than normal.

She held no illusions about her condition, though. The pain would come soon enough if nothing was done.

"I should have told Kim," Shego sighed quietly to herself. She felt terrible that she just up and left, but, old habits die hard. She was used to being a loner, to handling her problems herself, and she was halfway to Go city before she even considered getting Kim to help. It was a little pathetic, she felt, everything was changing so fast in her life and yet, here she was, back where it all started again.

VersaGene. Of course, now it was called GeneNominal, but that was just semantics. It was here, ages ago now, that she and her brothers gained their powers. That's not how the story went, of course. The way Hego always told people what happened made it seem like they were each playfully bitten by a spider or flew through seemingly harmless _cosmic rays_. The truth was much more brutal and involved days of pain, terror, and eventually, resignation to their eventual death.

That story didn't fit in the papers well, so it was 'adapted.' At least, that's what Hego said.

Trying her best not to use her glowing arm, lest she melt the shaft, Shego began slowly climbing. This shaft went all the way up the building, which was convenient, since she needed to get to floor 25.

As she silently climbed, she thought of Kim again. It was actually better this way, upon reflection. Kim didn't need to get involved with these people or she might get hurt. Safely back at the university, she wouldn't have to know the truth of their powers or the people they became beholden to. Shego also wouldn't have to justify the decision she'd made on her way to Go, which would probably be impossible.

Then again, she'd never just sit still. Shego blanched. _She's probably out there looking for me now, _she thought. _Dammit Kimmie, why the hell are always so persistent?_

Shego mentally kicked herself. She'd have to move quickly.

Picking up her pace at the cost of making a little noise, Shego found herself in the 25th floor vents less than ten minutes later. The building layout had changed slightly and she didn't exactly know where to turn, but she figured that some areas would be in the same geographical location, she just had to find the right duct to crawl through to get there.

She turned a corner and reached an unexpected dead end in the shaft where previously the ductwork had continued straight across the floor. She sighed quietly and moved over to one of the vents and peeked through.

A tall black man in a suit stared through the vent back at her. She froze, hoping he hadn't really seen her and was just looking around. Then she noticed the green lines across his jacket and realized that her arm was on fire again. Closing her eyes, she struggled to force the flames down and eventually the tingling along her palm ceased. Glancing down the vent again she noticed the man had pulled out some sort of a futuristic-looking weapon and was pointing it at her.

"Uh, hiya," said Shego, embarrassed.

"Don't make me force you down," he said in a deep voice that made the sheet metal vent vibrate slightly.

Shego swallowed.

------

"Now this is an unexpected call," said the tall, lanky boy as he pulled a variety of rubber straps and nylon cords around his limbs. He stood precariously among the mass of cords hanging from the ceiling and waved his hand at the huge computer monitor against the far wall. The array of visual sensors around the room picked up the movement and recognized the command to answer the call. A static picture of Kim (apparently taken by surprise, mid-bite into a large hamburger) appeared in the lower right hand corner of the screen showing the caller.

"Kimmie," said the boy as he continued wrapping cords around his legs and plugging them into ports in his boots. The room he was in was fairly small, so he didn't have to speak too loudly to have the microphone pick him up. "You're the last person I expected to call."

"Sorry to disappoint, Jim," Kim's voice came from the speakers to ether side of the screen.

"Jim?" said the boy, rather surprisingly. He rubbed his short stubble for a second then snapped his fingers. "You need something, don't you?"

"Uh," stammered Kim.

"Hah, figures," Jim shook his head but smiled all the same. "No 'welcome to college life, Jim,' no 'how're you adjusting, Jim,' just strictly business with big sis."

"Not all that 'old' thank you very much," replied Kim. "I am sorry though. I really meant to call more but... well, things have been kind of hectic since the summer."

"I'll bet," grinned Jim.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Kim.

"I've seen the trail," he started. "Followed the breadcrumbs, so to speak. I thought it was odd at first but I pieced it together sure enough."

"I'm not following you."

"Ah, but I was following you," Jim said smoothly. He reached up into the mess of cords and cables and pulled down a strange helmet with a visor and began strapping it to his head. "The pieces are all there on the internet to see, if you're looking right. Oh, and if you happen to be one of the best cyber-hackers in existence. That helps too."

"Jim, if you don't start being straight with me--" Kim wound up but was interrupted.

"Just as soon as you tell me how 'straight' you've been with Shego in the last year," Jim blurted, then immediately felt guilty. He wanted to draw it out more but he couldn't hold it in, not when she was acting all coy.

The ensuing silence was rewarding though. He pulled down his visor and snapped a switch on the side of the helmet. Immediately the cords began to pull and twist and the feeling of weightlessness engulfed him. He felt nauseous for a moment, just like he always did just at the beginning of a dive, but as soon as the screens before his eyes synchronized the sickness passed.

He suddenly stood floating before an endless array of stars, each linked by a filament thread of varying colors. Well, actually, he was still where he was before, but the screens on his eyes and the slowly adjusting suspension cords made it seem like he was floating in space.

From somewhere off in the distance, Jim heard his sister speak but it was hard to make out. He reached out into the darkness and with a flick of his fingers one of the distant stars suddenly drew close to him and displayed the picture of Kim with a glowing edge.

"What was that, I missed what you said while I was laughing," Jim added, just for ire.

"What do you know?" Kim said forcefully but in a whisper. There was a pause. "Who have you told?"

"Don't worry Sis," Jim said, honestly. "I wouldn't say anything until you do." He wished for a second that Kim hadn't given up her Kimmunicator after the Maya Tromper thing. Then she could see the serious look on his face and not have to rely on his words which were, he had to admit, often not honest. He loved his sister, even as he mocked her growing up, and he would never betray her like she had insinuated.

"I..." Kim started but trailed off. "Okay, Jim. Thanks." There was relief in her voice and Jim was equally relieved.

"So, really, you and Shego," Jim said after a moment. "Never would have thought that." He hesitated. "Well, maybe thought about that but never imagined it would happen."

"Okay, just so we're clear? Sick and wrong," Kim said. "I really don't want to know what little boys think about their sisters."

"Hey, I'm far from a boy anymore!"

"You're a genius teen who's attending college at age 16," summarized Kim. "But even if you do something weird and happen to graduate before me, I'll always think of you as my little boy brother."

"How compassionate of you," grumbled Jim.

"But, to be clear about something else," Kim continued. "I don't know what's going on between Shego and me but I can tell you nothing was planned. I haven't been harboring secret desire for her or anything so keep your little fantasies to yourself."

"She's not coming for Christmas is she?" Jim said, starting to feel the topic had turned awkward.

"Uh, nothing is set in stone," Kim said quickly. "Anyway, that's not why I called."

"Right, what do you need?" Jim asked, moving around the space, looking at stars. When he touched each one it exploded in his hand into pages of text, each mote of light representing a source of information on the network.

"Ironically, I need to know where Shego is," said Kim.

"What happened? Lover's quarrel?" joked Jim.

"She's... I think she's gone off to do something dangerous on her own, but I can't imagine what." There was a sigh over the call. "I think she's sick and not telling me."

"Sick?" Jim paused, midway through reading a star. "What kind of sick?"

"Something the meteor did to her, and probably her whole family. She could be dying."

"Team Go is dying?" said Jim in shock. He shook his head and turned his attention elsewhere. From the black abyss he reached out a pulled back a long list of names, each with little filament lines disappearing into the darkness. He tapped one and felt movement as he was pulled through virtual space until he was floating right in front of the star connected to the name by the filament.

"The problem is that there doesn't seem to be anyone who knows enough to fix them. It looks like Shego has been doing some research for some time on it, but I don't know anything about biology apart from the five kingdoms. And the way that Shego fled from here when she saw Hego collapse... I know she's doing something crazy. She needs me to keep her out of trouble."

Jim had opened over a dozen stars such that his entire view was filled with floating windows of text but he stopped at Kim's words and turned to listen.

"I know everyone's always seen her as evil," Kim continued, unbidden. "But there _are_ some things she cares about, she just never could show it before, when we were enemies. She'd go a long way to keep her brothers safe, and I'm not convinced she'd worry about keeping herself safe in the process."

"That's why-" Kim hesitated. "That's why I have to be there, to help her stay safe so she doesn't leave-" she stopped suddenly, as if she still had more to say but decided against it.

Jim looked down.

"I'll find her for you sis," he said softly. He reached out for a handful of stars and dragged them closer. "But you shouldn't lie to me or yourself. It doesn't help."

"Lie?" repeated Kim. "I didn't lie to you at all, I told you every--"

"You said 'I don't know what's going on between me and Shego'," quoted Jim. "But it seems clear, to me anyway, that you do."

Kim replied with silence.

Jim nodded to no one in particular. "I'll call you back when I've got something."

------

Shego didn't even remember being drugged. The last thing she did was jump to the floor that big suited man was standing on and stood. Now she was picking her head up off a strange white-colored bench with a pretty heavy headache and the strange taste of metal in her mouth.

"Bleh," she said as she looked around. The entire room was colored white and was incredibly shiny, so much that it looked like it was glowing. The walls were all smooth and curved into each other leaving no seams except for the largely transparent wall opposite the white bench. Pushing herself to her feet, she padded over to the window and pressed her head against it to see past the bright white glare behind her.

What was on the opposite side of the porthole made her growl.

"Mason," she sneered.

"Still treating me with such venom, are we, 457?" came the distant voice of the man behind the window through small speakers embedded in the room.

"That's not my name," Shego spat.

"Neither is 'Shego,' but I bet there is a lot of people who think it is." The dark haired man thinly smiled. "Truth is such a flimsy thing."

"What is this place?"

Mason stepped up closer to the window. "It's a special containment unit built to withstand your unique condition. Feel free to let loose, you'll not damage it."

Shego frowned and ignited her arm, flooding the room in a green light. Raising her fist she opened her hand and created a ball of glowing light as big as her head. Flicking her wrist, the pulsating globe of energy flew from her fingers and smashed against the clear material.

With a crash, the ball exploded into a hundred smaller fragments and was absorbed by the walls that pulsed green twice before returning to their normal white sheen.

"I'm disappointed," said Mason after the display concluded. "That was far from your best."

"It was enough to know you're right," Shego said, flatly. "Why did you put me in here?"

"Why?" asked Mason, hinting at the slightest bit of confusion. "You trespassed on my property, broken into my building, and have a known history of violence. I don't really think I was overstepping my bounds by temporarily jailing you." The man folded his arms. "The better question would be: why are _you_ here?"

Shego eyed him suspiciously. He had never been trustworthy, but she came here specifically to talk to him, so holding out until conditions were better wouldn't help in the long run.

An ache shot down her arm and she flinched involuntarily. She also didn't have a whole lot of time.

"Something's wrong with us," Shego admitted. "I have it, and Hego just started showing symptoms."

Mason softened just slightly and rubbed his chin, turning to the side. "I'd heard about Hego's sudden vanishing, but I hadn't suspected it was because of illness. He should be impervious to a simple cold."

"It's not a damn illness!" yelled Shego, her skin slowly sizzling in her cat suit. "And don't act like you don't know! I know you watch us." She narrowed her eyes.

"And what would ever lead you to believe that?" the pale-faced dark haired man returned. "Someone opening your mail before you get it? I'd check a neighbor before even thinking about looking my way."

"You're a controlling bastard and I know you." Shego made a fist, causing lances of green light to play along her skin. "There was NOTHING that Team Go did without your watchful eye."

"Ah, now that's a different matter," the man's eyebrows rose. "Team Go was very much my concern. Since we were partially funding your skill development program as well as providing medical support to you and your brothers we could hardly turn a blind eye."

"You stalked us like criminals," said Shego.

"That's not fair," Mason shook his head. "We were looking out for our investment. Since you departed to follow a life of crime, and, I might add, significantly damaged our efforts to sell the process to the military, I haven't spent more than a handful of minutes thinking about you. Mostly when I read about your failed efforts to 'dominate the world.'"

"I don't believe that for a second," Shego said through gritted teeth, but she lowered her arm all the same.

"Suit yourself," shrugged Mason. "So, do you want to tell me what it is, if it's not an illness you're here about?"

"We're losing control of our powers."

Mason frowned. "That shouldn't be possible."

"Well, it's happening," said Shego, annoyed. "I had to damage my symbiote to keep from turning into a green supernova. Hego's body would have turned itself inside out if I'd hadn't done the same for him."

"Wait a minute," Mason stepped up to the window. "You damaged the symbiote and you've still got your power?"

"It's regenerating," Shego said. "Just like everything else in my body does."

"Go back a second. What do you mean you're 'losing control' of your power? Explain exactly what's happening."

"No," Shego firmly shook her head. "First tell me if you sold this crap to someone else, someone who should be warned."

Mason looked annoyed but he looked at her straight in the eyes. "We didn't."

"Why?"

"It turned out there wasn't enough of the meteor left to extract another symbiote from," Mason frowned. "We tried to create another 450-series with the residual energy in the fragments but she did not survive the bonding." He paused. "You and your brothers remain unique."

Shego looked up. "I'm sorry."

"You still proved our gene therapy process, so it was profitable for us."

Shego's eyed glowed as she looked down at Mason with scorn. "Not for you! For whatever poor lonely soul you murdered with this ridiculous super soldier project!"

"I may be misunderstanding something," said Mason with a raised finger. "But based on what I'm hearing so far, you came here to ask for my help. If that's the case, I'd appreciate it if you tucked your little superiority complex away. You're a damn criminal and you haven't been a particularly good one. Don't act so high and mighty before your creator and maybe he'll fix your fucked up body!" He was yelling loudly by the end.

Shego raised an eyebrow and looked at him strangely. "You have a serious god-complex, don't you?" She moved closer to the window again. "I don't want there to be any confusion between us, Mason." She rested her forehead against the pane. "You're a vile being and I would never, EVER, come crawling back here to beg you to save my life."

"But," she continued. "I will to save my brothers."

Mason's eyes slightly widened.

"If you do everything in your power to save my brothers," Shego deliberately said. "You can do anything you need to my body to find the cure."

"Anything?" questioned Mason.

"I know you've wanted to study one of us," said Shego. "None of your 450-series trials succeeded except for my brothers and I. You desperately want to know why. Here's your opportunity." She took a step back and spread her arms. "Open me up, dissect me, turn me upside and backwards." She lowered her arms. "Just use the information to save my family."

Mason folded his arms and thought for no more than half a minute.

"You understand, I'll require you to sign a contract to that extent," he said, the corners of his mouth turning slightly up. "Legal issues. You know what it's like these days."

------

"Speak to me, Jim," said Kim into her cell phone as she drove west out of the city. "Give me good news."

"She's in Go City," said her brother over the phone. "A tricky girl to trace, but I caught her on one of the street intersection cameras and was able to trace her from there."

"You're amazing," said Kim.

"Yeah, well, anything's possible for--"

"Don't," interrupted Kim. "Just... not right now. Where in Go did she go? To the tower?"

"At first yeah," said Jim. "But then she left about an hour later and entered a building for the GeneNominal corporation. I'm trying to get into their internal security system now, but it's not easy."

"Wade could do it," prodded Kim. She really was grateful to her brother, but she was short on time and she knew if she put the pressure on, he could work miracles. "You're not worse than Wade is, are you?"

"Are you joking?" scoffed Jim. "The only thing that guy has on me is age. I'll have the entire building mapped out before you reach the city limits. I'm assuming you're already on your way."

Kim smiled. "I am."

"Odds were that where she went," said Jim. "I figured you'd try to save time. Let me know when you've reached the city. I've already hacked into the municipal systems. I'll have every light green your way."

"Thanks, Jim, I really, really, appreciate it."

"Hey, I'm just glad you came to me," Jim laughed. "Although I suppose Tim wouldn't be much help with computers."

"You're both amazing, and I'm really sorry for not calling sooner. I'll fix that in the future."

"Just be yourself, sis," said Jim. "We know you love us."

"Thanks," Kim smiled.

------

Betty Director stood silently beside the fairly large screen in her office. It was suspended against one of the large transparent walls and was capable of interaction, much like the multi-story screen below in the command center. It had been constructed with a series of motion detectors and movable cameras along its perimeter so it could act as a video phone as well as a virtual desktop and display. However, where she was standing now, was just slightly outside the cameras' ability to point.

Second-in-Command Agent Will Du's video feed was being displayed on the screen alongside Dr. Garrick and Agent Wade Load, all of which were looking suspiciously around as they spoke to, apparently, an empty room.

"We've combed over every security log and camera," Du continued his report. "There's nothing on the overhead or the exterior cameras that doesn't coincide with a verbally confirmed departure of any agent."

"A thorough examination of her cell also did not reveal how she was able to construct the Lumniocodec, either," Wade chimed. "Our best guess is that she did it somehow with her electronic restrains and tracking chips, since they don't show up on scans right now, but I don't see how."

"What about Prometheus?" asked Betty. "There is substantial technology in that project."

"Completely non-functional technology," reminded Wade. "Even though it physically fused with her such that we couldn't remove it, the repair centers were destroyed. It can't have started working again and nanite-based technology that's broken is nothing more than dead cells."

Betty seemed to muse over that for a moment. "Doctor Garrick, tell me about the Luminocodecs."

"I've researched what we have on record," the wizened doctor replied, reading from a clipboard. "The remains of the holographic devices we recovered prior to her coma don't directly compare to the one I found in Shaft-J or the ones in her care room. If these were made by the same person, they represent a significant leap forward in design, far beyond anything that Allucinere demonstrated during her initial 'rampage.'"

"I think we're stepping outside of the original point, here," Will interrupted. "Either she has created a new Luminocodec that's capable of completely duplicating the biological signs of another person, or she's still here."

Betty frowned and walked back in front of the screen to look at Will's picture. "Still here?"

"If she didn't leave," said Du, ominously. "Then she's still here. Hiding somewhere."

Betty looked down and tried to think. "Will, get all of our access codes refreshed. Implement strict guidelines about keeping people from communicating sensitive information in person. For the time people we'll have to be suspicious about who we're talking who unless they've been validated."

"That could get insane, Director," warned Will. "Outlawing person-to-person communication? How will we coordinate anything?"

"Use console-based and vidscreen communication for the time being." Betty looked up. "You have to login and be authorized to talk over it, so it's a good stop gap method. Our assumption is thatAllucinere is mimicking people's appearance again, so we have to rely on key knowledge that can't be replicated on the surface. Logins are weak, but they're the best we have right now. Wade, you should start re-encrypting the entire database."

"That could take days," said Wade.

"We have no idea how long she's been out of her bed." Betty shook her head. "We have to redo our security measures to lock her out in case she already has access."

"Yes, sir," said Wade, unenthusiastically.

"Dr. Garrick."

"Yes, Director?" The man raised his eyebrows and lowered his clipboard.

"Find out how those new Luminocodecs are working and find a way to disable them."

He frowned. "You records here say you never were able to block the old versions, I can't promise much better luck than before."

"You have to try," ordered Betty. "Stop all other projects. Until this matter is under wraps it has our full attention, understand?"

"Yes, sir," said three voices in unison.

"Go make it happen," nodded Betty. Then added, "Wade, stay on the line."

Will and Garrick nodded and soon their video feeds vanished.

"What is it, Betty?" asked Wade after he was sure they were alone.

"We may need to get her back in here," Dr. Director replied, cryptically.

"Her...? Allucinere?"

"Kim."

Wade nodded slowly. "Oh." He looked away. "She was the one who brought her down before."

"Will she come if we ask?" Betty ventured. She walked over to her desk and leaned against it. "I'm not sure she felt entirely welcome during her last visit."

"I can't say what she'll do," Wade said. "I'm not sure we know her anymore. I mean, hanging out with Shego, working with Jack Hench. Is she the Kim we knew, or a new, different Kim?"

"It's hard to say," said Betty. "But if there was anything that would get her moving in our direction again..." she looked away. "It's Allucinere."


	6. Stress Fracture, Part III

AUTHOR'S FOREWORD: Sorry for the extra long wait for this originally short segment of 'A Period of Silence' but ... well, lets just say life is complicated. In any case, to make up for the time, this chapter of Part III is super long and leads directly into the finale of 'A Period of Silence.' 

I recommend going back to the start of 'Part Three', otherwise known as "Stress Fracture, Part I" and reading from there to get full understanding of this chapter. There are a lot of what are generally called 'catches' in this chapter, meaning in earlier pieces I did some 'tosses' (essentially dropping names or hints of future plot elements) and here they're finally tied together. I hope you enjoy this part as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Thanks!

(Hrm, looks like FanFiction dot Net's MS Word conversion software is on the fritz. I'll have to sacrifice my formatting, so, imagine that some words are italicized and bolded. Any words really...)

* * *

In the dark rafters of Drakken's 13th underground lair, Shego crouched silently, her emerald eyes fixed on the two forms walking casually down the corridor. One was a girl, thin, athletic, with vibrant red hair and a slight spring in her step that told Shego she was ready for an attack even if she looked casual. The other was a boy with short blond hair, looking around as if in awe, but there was something else about his stance, an inherent fluidity that also made the green thief think he was prepared for more than he was letting on.

Quickly shifting her weight, working the kinks out of her muscles from hiding for so long, Shego looked down the hallway and made a small pinpoint of green flame dance at the tip of her finger. The sign she'd established earlier, for her Synthodrones to ambush the intruders. Beyond layers of shadows a blackness, Shego saw movement in the dark and knew the drones had gotten the sign and were about to pounce. Extinguishing the flame, Shego gripped the rafters and hung over the ledge, ready to let go and fall at a moments notice.

The moment was up and the six drones leapt from cover and surrounded the pair of intruders. Immediately the two entered a combative stance. The red-head moved her legs apart and brought up her arms while the boy held his hands out like blades, imitating an often seen karate position in movies. In the darkness, Shego smiled slightly at the boy's appearance. He may have some natural talent, but he was just a buffoon when it came to fighting. His 'karate position' was just an act, with no real skill behind it.

Dashing the blonde from her mind, Shego focused all her attentions on the red-head and just as the drones started their attack, Shego released her grip on the iron rafters and dove towards the skilled girl. Her descent was silent, even the sound of rushing air was reduced by her streamlined and skin-tight bodysuit. She would land directly on the intruder girl and have her captured immediately. Shego narrowed her eyes as the microseconds counted down to her landing.

Without even the slightest warning, the redhead turned and swung her leg around at the descending thief. Without her own years of combat experience, Shego would have caught the heel of the kick on her chin. Even so, she only manged to twist her body enough to take the strike to the shoulder, and rolled off to the side.

Effortlessly, Shego flipped herself back up to her feet, wincing only slightly under the strain her shoulder suddenly felt. She didn't want to be surprised, but her hesitation to simply lunge back at the girl read immediately apparent.

"Didn't think I saw you there, did you, Shego?" said the redhead with a grin, staring down Shego. She ducked suddenly as a Synthodrone tried to punch the back of her head. Instead the hulking henchman got a kick to the ribs which tore his retaining suit causing synthodrone plasma to spill slowly onto the floor. Throughout the whole defense, her eyes never left Shego's.

"Been training, I see," said Shego putting her hand to her waist and standing slightly more casually. She extended her other arm and made a beckoning motion with her palm. "Let's see what you've got, Kimme."

The purple and black suited drones forgotten, Kim sprinted towards Shego, her arms tucked behind her frame to increase her speed as she leaned into her run. Shego stayed still until the last moment when she spun to sweep the oncoming hero.

Reading the action ahead of time, Kim leapt over the leg and swung her own foot around to strike Shego's head. The kick was dodged and Kim touched one hand on the ground to change her momentum and flip over her opponent. Her other hand reached for Shego's hair and, with a satisfying grunt, she grabbed a fistful and yanked, throwing the black and green suited woman over her shoulder into a wall.

Shego felt the snap in her arm and knew she'd probably dislocated something as she bounced off the wall and hit the ground. Unwilling to be defeated so easily, she used her good arm to roll back onto her feet. She stood now in a defensive position. Her mind spun as she saw Kim staring simply at her, now beckoning the thief with her own hand.

"Is that it?" asked Kim with a smirk. "Ron could've taken you."

"Don't get cocky, Princess," said Shego yanking on her shoulder and feeling the sickening crunch as it popped back into position. Bile built in her throat but she swallowed it down. "I'm just warming up."

"KIM!" rang a yell, suddenly. Shego looked past the redhead and saw her blond friend, the gibbering Ron Stopppable, being overwhelmed by the remaining five drones. "HEEAALPP!"

Kim, in turn, kept her eyes on Shego, but carefully side-stepped to a wall and grabbed a jutting metal panel. With a single jerk it ripped from its screws and came off in her hand. The jutting metal looked deadly around the corners, but she turned halfway back and flung the piece like a discus, causing it to arc in the air before coming down on the group of drones and Ron. The sharp corners tore through the suits of the five drones, causing them to bleed out yellowish plasma onto the floor. Ron started to sigh in relief when the sailing scrap of metal made a "clang" against a nearby conduit and ricocheted back at Stoppable. He made a yelp just before the panel struck him in the back, knocking him face-first into the concrete flooring. The panel came to a rest nearby.

"Good job, Princess," said Shego sarcastically. She squinted to see the crumpled body of Stoppable, trying to find any trace of blood or if he was just unconscious. It was hard to tell with the slowly expanding pool of yellow plasma.

She felt the air pressure before even noticing the punch. The strike was hard to her cheek and only instinct got her to roll with the punch enough to minimize the shock. Shego dove and rolled on her bad shoulder, gritting her teeth in pain.

The soft footfalls of Kim told her there would be no time to delay and she dove back at the redheaded heroine. This time, Kim was surprised and grunted as Shego took her to the ground. Her follow-up punch, augmented by her power, only struck concrete however. She swung again but Kim grabbed her arms and was desperately trying to hold the glowing fists away from her body.

Shego struggled with her left arm, as he shoulder was screaming out in pain, but her right arm was steadily descending. She knew she was physically stronger than the younger Possible, and hopefully she'd gotten her into a position where Kim would surrender. The sudden knee to her pelvis was a low blow for Kim, in every respect and Shego screamed briefly in pain.

The flames in Shego's fists extinguished and Kim took advantage of the opening to strike the thief in the ribs and push her away. The two figures rolled apart and then got to their knees.

Shego was breathing hard, feeling each sharp breath as it entered her lungs. Something was very wrong about this fight. Never had she had such a hard time fighting Kim Possible! Their fights were always a dance, not a brawl. She was the superior fighter, the Princess only ever won because of clever gadgets or unexpected allies. In an all out fight, Shego should win!

Shego glanced back at Stoppable and paused when she realized that Kim hadn't even paid him a second glance since going down. Shego's eyes slowly turned back to look at Possible's as the latter got to her feet once more.

"You're not Possible," said Shego, her eyes widening.

"What do you mean?" ask Kim, in a mock demure voice. Her eyes softened suddenly but she couldn't seem to rid herself of the smug grin.

Shego stood, despite her body's protests. "You are not Kim Possible! I don't know who you are, but Kim would never have done that to Stoppable, and she definitely would not have fought me like that."

"Please," dismissed the redhead, waving her hand. "You think you know me that well? I'm your nemesis. Don't you think I would do everything possible to find a way to defeat you?"

"No," Shego shook her head. Something deep within her knew for sure this was all wrong, for so many reasons other than her demeanor. "You wouldn't. Beating me doesn't matter that much to you. Not as much as it does to me."

"Maybe I had a change of heart," said Kim. The smile was still there.

"No, not the Kimme I know," Shego's voice was gaining strength and she could feel doors unlocking in her mind. This was not just wrong, this was impossible. "You're not ruthless. You're ... balanced. Just. You use only what you absolutely have to win and nothing more." She shook her head, like clearing cobwebs. "Why are we even fighting? I don't work for Drakken anymore. I work for Jack Hench. And you know that! You know..." she trailed off. Nothing about this situation seemed real anymore.

"We're fighting because we still have a matter to settle," said Kim, darkly. She slowly starting stepping forward, her eyes becoming dark, the beautiful jade-like green obscured.

"Not with Kimmie, I don't," said Shego. "I ... care about her. I would never do this." She swallowed and backed up slightly. "Who the hell are you?"

"She doesn't care for you," said Kim in a voice that was clearly no longer her own. "You think this is more than a fling for her?"

"WHO ARE YOU?" screamed Shego.

"She will get bored or she'll realize that courting a criminal is going to do nothing but make her life harder and she'll leave you. Or worse, you'll drag her into your sick abyss."

"I'd never do that!" Shego's back suddenly found a wall behind her. She was confused; the corridor extended much further last time she looked. There wasn't a second to spare to confirm, though, now with... whoever that was coming near.

"She doesn't need you," Kim continued. "She's probably not even really gay. She's just toying with you and will pull the rug out when it will hurt you the most."

"STOP!" Shego held up her hands and let the burst aflame. The green figures quickly snaked up her arms right up to her shoulders. She shivered in fear but didn't dare lower her defenses.

'Kim' stepped right up to Shego's flames and stared dispassionately over them. "Don't let her," she said. "Take her out, be strong again. Defeat your weakness and move on. The world awaits you. So much to steal. So many people to force to recognize you."

"I don't care about those things anymore!" Shego couldn't stop her body shaking from fear. The being in front of her made her feel small and frail. She almost felt her body shrinking and becoming young again. Her voice suddenly felt tight in her throat. "I want a real life!"

"Isn't that cute," Kim said, looking down at her. Shego blinked. Why was she so tall all of a sudden? "Maybe when you grow up you'll understand the way things are."

"Grow up?" asked Shego.

"You're just a child, after all," said Kim.

Shego glanced down and realized she was right. Her body was small, she felt like she was six again. Her arms extended only a foot before her and the large flames had dwindled to mere match lights. She wasn't even wearing her catsuit anymore. It had been replaced by a long green sundress.

"What happened to me!?" asked Shego as she looked up only to yelp as she realized that the being before her had changed too. No longer did she have long red hair and cargo pants, now she had long black hair, pale skin, and was wearing an all black catsuit. She didn't look like Kim at all anymore, she had become Shego herself!

The adult Shego stared down with a broad smile showing her jagged teeth. Her body started to smoke and suddenly burst almost completely into green flames. Even engulfed in the inferno, her body and face could still somehow be seen.

The scenery around them stretched then melted away, exposing a vast night sky filled with more stars than could ever be seen from Earth. The adult Shego's burning body lit up the heavens like a green sun and then turned its large sharp eyes towards the little girl in a green sundress.

The young Shego just screamed.

------

"YAAAAAA!! GET AWAY!"

A flurry of physicians dressed in white scrabled around the small, eggshaped room towards the door on one end. In the middle of the room was a simple white table with what looked like the melted, smoldering remains of medical equipment around it. On the table was strapped Shego, thrashing about with her eyes wrenched shut and slowly glowing brighter and brighter from the green flames that were surrounding her body.

The lead physician, Paul Rasiden, finally managed to get the secured door in the special prison open and the four VersaGene doctors scrambled into the hall where a well dressed man with short black hair and pale white skin stood with a frown. The last man out shoved the door closed, activating the sealing mechanism. Nearby, the observation window started glowing green and getting brighter by the second.

"What's going on?" demanded Mason, the well dressed man.

"She's having some sort of nightmare," stammered Rasiden as he stared through the window. "The symbiote's readings were off the chart and then she just exploded in energy."

"Make her stop," said Mason.

"She's asleep!" yelled back the specialist. "She's not even doing it consciously. I think the symbiote is confused, interpreting her nightmare as a real threat."

Mason regarded the small screen to the side of the door. Several squares on the LCD panel were glowing red. "She's going completely over the tested tolerances. If she doesn't stop soon she'll melt right through the wall!"

Paul looked at the panel and then back through the window. Shego was still thrashing against the steel restraints on the bed which had, remarkably, not yet melted. "Maybe we can tranquilize her," he said. "Get her out of REM sleep into stage 1 or stage 2 of the sleep cycle. She should stop having the nightmare then."

"Do it!" yelled Mason.

"There's no way to get to her," said Rasiden. "She melted the monitoring equipment, there's no telling what she'll actually do to a person!"

Mason grumbled and walked to a nearby cart stacked with drawers and pulled out a syringe. He forced it into the doctor's hand. "There's a way to find out."

Rasiden frowned and swallowed, looking at the glass and metal instrument in his hand. "I'll probably die," he said, not looking up.

"Only probably," said Mason. "Which are better odds than if you attempt to run right now."

The doctor gripped the syringe in his fist and turned towards the door. He took a deep breath. "Open the door," he said to one of the other physicians.

"Are you sure--" started the physician.

"Open it!"

The door slid aside bathing the antechamber in green light. Without a word Rasiden ran in, his clothes starting to smoke the second he passed the threshold. The door slammed shut as soon as he was through and the rest of the physicians crowded around the window to watch.

Several second later the green light suddenly vanished.

Then a smoking body fell to the floor gripping a steaming empty syringe.

* * *

Disney's **Kim Possible** in

**A Period of Silence**

By Adam Leigh

Part Three: "_Stress Fracture_"

(Concluded)  
----------------

--Discoveries--

The meeting was at night, at the 'witching hour' as it had been referred to once then so many times more. In the major cities like New York, Los Angeles and Go City, heroes prowled the rooftops while villains snuck through the sewers below. But the normal people, the ones with day jobs, or night jobs, or quazi-time jobs that just seemed to never end, or those without jobs, they sat, or slept or strolled or shivered in the night air oblivious to the symphony of clashing powers that was only in its overture as the clock struck twelve.

Middleton, while smaller than all those cities, had it share of heroes and villains and nighttime activity, but because there were fewer people, it was less lively, and because it was less lively, it meant there were more places for two people to meet without ever been seen.

Unfortunately, none of that mattered to the figure walking alone down the sidewalk at night, barely visible in the faint starlight and distant street lamps. It didn't matter to the figure because, for all that he knew, the person he had come to meet would never arrive, not in person anyway. With a dutiful pace, the figure approached the meeting spot, silently counting away the GPS coordinates until they matched the predetermine numbers, then stopped, stood, and waited.

A car drove past, which was rare for this part of town at this time of night, and largely ignored the tall figure. In return, the figure narrowed the lenses of his eyes, adjusting his night-vision and slightly turned up his collar to hide the glint of cold metal that was his face.

Another reason why being able to meet in private didn't matter to the figure was because he was a robot. A drone, to be specific. The drone couldn't care less about where it was or when because it didn't have the ability to do anything save respond to the commands of it's remote operator who, in this case, was a teenaged boy, slightly overweight, with dark brown hair and rectangular rimless glasses.

Miles away, the boy, Timothy Possible, sat at a desk in a dark room and watched, through a trio of monitors, through the eyes of the drone, while simultaneously letting his eyes casually flick over several virtual windows of streaming data telling him things like the temperature, the current elevation, visual mode, hydraulic pressure, battery life, estimated time to live, and current distance from the nearest Dairy Queen.

It never hurt to know how far you had to go to get a sunday.

Timothy, as he had insisted people call him since attending college, scratched his chin a signed. The time was right, where was his useless contact.

Almost immediately the small little device rolled into view and the drone's targeting software tagged it as a non-threat. A quick tapping on Timothy's computer resulted in a detailed schematic of the device and a readout on all signals being emitted from it. It was a small RC truck, with a palm-sized computer duck taped to it and a high intensity transceiver stuck out the back. As Timothy started a software to scan the transceiver for any recognizable signals, suddenly the drone reported a rapid increase in energy output on the device.

Using software written for such an emergency, the drone entered a defensive position, wrapping its insulated arms around its head and tucking its legs under its body, becoming a neat ball. The extremities of the drone were specially insulated and designed to perfectly wrap around the sensitive areas of the drone, its processing torso and signal processing head. In the event of an impact or even a low-intensity EMP, the drone would survive with minimal damage.

Unfortunately, it caused the drone to go into a cycling sleep mode where it would activate for only a few moments every 10 seconds in order to update Timothy on what was happening at its location.

The first 10 seconds revealed little except that the rise in energy output had steadied. The second 10 seconds revealed that there was a distinct audible stimulus nearby.

Timothy sighed and on the third 10 seconds ordered the drone to stand down. When the screens returned to real-time, he saw that the RC truck was still there, but 'standing' in front of it was a holographic projection of his wretched contact.

"Hey Tim," said the holographic Jim through the audio receivers on the drone's head and the tinny speakers around Timothy's monitors. The boy was Timothy's twin but they had made striking progress at becoming different. Jim as thin, almost wiry, with a goatee and scraggly hair. "That was real cute there, curling up in fetal position. I didn't know I inspired such terror."

"It was defensive," snapped Timothy as he activated his headset and the speakers on the drone. "In case you were an EMP."

"I doubt curling into a ball would be real helpful with that," said Jim looked up and to the side. "Puts you in a vulnerable position too. If I was real, I could have just rolled you into the street into the path of an oncoming car."

"This drone weighs 450 pounds," said Timothy. "A simply kick wouldn't do it. And I don't need design advice from the computer geek."

"Yeah, cause you've got everything figured out, don't you robot-nerd?" said Jim. He shook his head as he spoke like he was disappointed.

"I've had enough of this." Timothy tapped on his keyboard, sending instructions to return to launch point. The real-time images on the monitors started to move as the drone started turning.

"Wait, wait!" came Jim's voice. A few seconds later his image slid unnaturally into view and Timothy could see it was limited to projected a fixed distance from the emitter taped to the RC Truck.

"What?" snapped Timothy, stopping the drone's movement. "I'm sure this is all fun and games with you but I'm trying to do real work here."

"Oh, and sending the drone instead of just walking is just your idea of efficiency?" Jim put his hand to his hip.

Timothy sighed angrily.

"Okay, okay," Jim put his hands up. "I didn't ask you here to do this. Well, not entirely."

"Then what?"

"I need your help," Jim said, looking away.

Timothy scoffed.

"Seriously," added Jim, but sounding... well, insincere.

"Well, I'm not interested in helping you," announced Timothy, but he didn't move the drone. A small part of him was intrigued and an even smaller part of him missed being a kid and working with his brother on every manner of trouble-causing scheme. But mostly, he was wondering how he could lord this over Jim at some point in the future.

"You wouldn't really be helping me," said Jim. "It's for Kim."

In all their squabbles, attempts to one-up the other over the last couple years, fights over credit, and level of genius, and friends, and girls, there was one thing they had minded being alike in: caring for their sister. Even as their own personal tiffs got worse, when Kim came back broken after the Allucinere incident, they were there for her. Unquestioningly.

"What's wrong?" asked Timothy.

"This may sound like six degrees of separation, but she's gotten involved with--" he stopped suddenly, as if he was surprised at what he was about to say. He quickly regained his composure. "She's involved with someone who may have gotten into a lot of serious trouble and she needs help breaking -- them -- out."

"She's dating again?"

"It might be more serious than that," commented Jim with a grin.

"Ah," nodded Timothy. They were the younger siblings but sometimes it felt gratifying to look pleased upon their elder sister. He sighed again, more sadly. "She sure can pick them, though. What happened? He's caught up in some villain's trap?"

"Less dramatic and more serious," said Jim, solemnly. "Sickness. I think, anyway. We need some help and I think I know where to find some but ... well, they live out in the middle of nowhere and I have limits as to where I can send a radio controlled car."

"Why not just call them?" asked Timothy, scratching his chin. Something was unsettling about this. He wasn't dumb, there was something about whoever Kim was dating that Jim wouldn't say, even though he knew. Since Kim's live was sacred ground, it must be something that he thought would turn Timothy away from helping, which only disturbed him more.

"No phones," continued Jim, obvious to his brother's ponderings. "Middle of the jungle-slash-medicine man type of person. We need something to fly in there, interact, then fly back."

Timothy frowned, catching a glimpse of what Jim was getting at. "You want to use one of my drones?"

Jim stuck his hands in his holographic pockets. "Actually, I have a very specific drone I'd like to use. Not yours, of course. Someone else's. I'm sure they won't mind me borrowing it for a while, and I can easily get past their system security, I just don't know how to interface with it. I could use someone who's a genius with robotics to help built an interface for my virtual reality simulator."

"Someone else's?" asked Timothy. "That sounds like stealing and I don't know if I want my trail left in a stranger's drone that you want to fly to the Amazon or someplace. Not to mention, it could take me days to figure out how to write drivers to blend your Giger-esque interface to a mechanical drone."

Jim smiled, in an evil way, and Timothy wondered what he was up to. "It's not really a stranger's drone, and you are probably already familiar with the variable-configuration-and-mass technology used to build it." He looks nonchalantly away, grinning wildly. "It is the latest in Cybertronics."

Timothy's eyes widened and then he nodded slowly, understanding completely. "Well, I suppose I could give it a shot," he said starting to smile just like Jim.

"It is for Kim, after all," said Jim.

"Oh, right! For Kim I could do it," said Timothy but his mind was already writing out the code in the air.

------

RING

RIIING--CLICK!

"Hello! You've reached the cell phone of the total awesome and nearly undefeatable hacker Jim Possible! I can't come to phone right now, as you probably know since I didn't pick up. So come up with a good reason why I didn't -- hopefully something exciting, like an Indiana Jones style adventure -- and know that I really did want to talk to you, especially if you're a cutie. Leave your name, your number, and a brief description of yourself after the tone and I'll get back to you as soon as I outrun this boulder. Ciao!"

BEEP

"JAMES ANOTHNY POSSIBLE! HOW DARE YOU HACK INTO THE FACILITY COMPUTERS AND OVERRIDE THE LOCKS ON THE CYBERTRONIC UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE WE'VE BEEN DEVELOPING! DON'T THINK I DON'T KNOW IT WAS YOU! RETURN THE UAV THIS INSTANT! YOU ARE GOING TO BE SO GROUNDED OVER CHRISTMAS IT WILL BE UNLIKE ANY TIME YOU'VE BLOWN THE ROOF OFF YOUR ROOM OR DESTROYED ALL THE WINDOWS ON THE FIRST FLOOR! THERE ARE SOME SERIOUS PEOPLE HERE WHO ARE GOING TO BE ASKING SERIOUS QUESTIONS AS TO WHY THEIR HARD EARNED DOLLARS HAVE SUDDENLY GONE T--"

BEEP

------

Nearly silently the rocket-launched UAV soared just above the thick jungle canopy in the wilds of the Asian jungleland. The craft was small, probably no bigger than a laptop, with a long cylindrical protrusion out the back and long, thin wings to either side and above guiding its careful descent into the valley below. The canopy was dense and nothing could easily be seen from above and so the tiny black craft started to descend.

Just before it was about to reach the uppermost leaves of the foliage, the black device shimmered and glowed with an unnatural light before instantly reconfiguring itself to be shorter and have larger wings, effecting a design that accommodated a slower speed through more treacherous obstacles.

Still, almost effortlessly, the small black plane flew under leaf and vine, bobbing and weaving through trees and other vegetation alike. With the cover of the leaves, the craft had to rely on the myriad of other sensors equipped along its dorsal side, searching the endless brown and green for the organized gray, the overgrown but still majestic stone temple that was its destination.

From Jim's perspective, it felt like he was flying through the dense jungle himself. His suspended form drifted gently from side to side in the virtual simulator suit he had helped create while his mind experienced every sensor reading, visual cue, and gentle air current that slipped over the distant black craft's sleek form. The 'virtual' reality of his simulator was nearly perfect, save for the limited view he had through the UAV's sensor package which only slightly ruined the illusion. Even so, it was the closest he'd gotten from a truly virtual, real-time experience and he had, of all people, his own brother to thank.

Tipping to the side, Jim banked and flew slightly higher, trying to get a better view of what was up ahead. He sighed as he sailed, thinking of how troublesome his brother had become over the years. He knew he didn't always think this way, and could remember times when Tim and he were inseparable. But while time heals all wounds, it also has the tendency to create new ones. When they were in high school was when it started, when being alike stopped being cool and started to be annoying.

Jim realized it first, at least he figured he did, and tried to change himself. Growing out his hair and trying to form a stubble, even though he was still years from being able to grow a real beard. Tim didn't get it and just tried to match, as they always had done. But Jim didn't want to match, he wanted to be different, so that their friends could tell them apart, and their teachers knew which one was in Chemistry and which in Physics, so that the girls would stop confusing Tim's awkward goofiness with Jim's undeniable charm.

In his opinion, anyway.

Once the divide had formed though, Jim realized how different they were in other ways. Their gait and speech patterns, favorite foods and specialties in science, even their proficiency in math was different. Jim found it hard to figure out how they were ever so close when kids.

Then, once they entered college, they stopped trying to be similar at all. They deliberately chose different roommates and separate classes, and went out of the way to avoid each other on the way to class. They started interacting through layers upon layers of formality. Like the way they discussed the plan to steal the UAV through a drone and a hologram instead of face to face which would have been easier and quicker considering they lived only a five minute walk from each other.

"Such a pain," Jim muttered aloud, but he could no more blame Tim than himself as they both had let the hostilities rise to almost comedic levels.

"What was that?" a voice similar to Jim's own rung in his ears. Somewhere on his virtual HUD was a picture of 'Timothy' staring into the simulator from his won computer terminal somewhere in the bowels of the Applied Science building at Carnegie Mellon. Timothy had one of his brows arched inquisitively but Jim got a little irritated by it. Something about the way he talked made it seem like he thought he was vastly superior to Jim and was somewhat burdened by the task of having to explain anything to his slower twin.

"Nothing," said Jim, adjusting his course again. "Just having a hard time flying through the trees."

"Well, we're not going to see anything from above the canopy," said Timothy.

Yes, I know that!, Jim said in his mind, but refrained from speaking aloud. He needed his brother's help and he couldn't risk him leaving in a huff until they found their target.

After that, Timothy would undoubtedly get upset, but one issue at a time.

"According to topographical maps, you should be coming up on the lowest part of the valley," announced Timothy. "This is the most likely location for the temple."

Jim craned his neck to look around but felt like he had a crick in his neck as he did. "Something's up," he said. "I can't rotate the camera."

"Hang on," sighed Timothy as a series of clacks and clicks resounded through the open connection. "Try again."

Jim looked down. "Much bette-oh, I see it."

Twisting his legs, Jim dove down further to the ground, picking up speed in order to coast just a few feet from the surface. Slowly, despite the deepening valley, the ground sloped upwards until he reached a stone corner jutting up from the soft earth. Vines and fallen trees covered it slightly but as Jim traced the corner he spotted the sign: a stone monkey, immaculately carved and guarding what looked like a small opening into the ground.

"This is it," confirmed Jim.

"I see it on the active scanner, looks like it goes pretty deep." Timothy frowned. "It almost looks like part of the temple has collapsed, tipping it slightly to the southeast. I can't get detailed information on the inside without going in."

"Then we go in," shrugged Jim and pointed his nose at the dark opening. Flying smoothly inside, he felt the UAV reconfigure again, losing the long wide wings for smaller stubs and sprouting a pair of blades out of the top of his head that spun like a helicopter.

Inside the tunnel it was dark and with a twitch of Jim's fingers, the view changed to a night-vision mode, basking everything in a shade of green. The small shards of light reflecting from the entrance showed the rough hewn walls and spilled dirt on the floor. Cobblestones peeked out occasionally from the earth from wear and what looked like constant travel.

"Someone's been here," Timothy said, beating Jim to the observation. "Themographics say maybe less than four hours ago. Bare feet, probably monkey pawed."

"'Monkey pawed'? Is that really an adjective?"

"Dude, there aren't the right words in the English language to describe some of the goons in Kim's rogues gallery," insisted Timothy. "I'm doing the best I can."

"Hmph," sounded Jim as he tipped forward, causing himself to sail ahead. The ground became more tread and less dirty as he continued, and ahead the soft glow of firelight started to brighten the dusty cavern.

The view changed back to normal light mode once the light got too bright for night vision. Jim stared ahead, and Timothy peered through his brother's eyes, at the awkward sight ahead.

The main chamber of the temple was tall and contained reliefs and statues of various scenes involving monkey victories over man. It was an eerie room, but more disturbing was the makeshift kitchen and living room that occupied much of the hall. Wooden tables and chairs -- quite sizable chairs -- adorned the 'kitchen' area along with what appeared to be a kitchen countertop, sink, and cooking area. Not far from there laid a couch stuffed with straw and large stone brick that Jim assumed was a coffee table. In the distance a large bed laid covered in sheets that hid any signs of what it was actually made of. Jim assumed it wasn't a Sealy.

It was like peering back in time and finding out the Flintstones were historically accurate. Jim and Timothy alike gaped at the arrangement.

Which made the sudden attack on the UAV simple to pull off. The long staff came out of nowhere and slammed the helicopter-like drone to the ground, breaking several wings and completely destroy the spinning blades that gave the vehicle flight.

Jim twisted and writhed in the simulator as he felt parts of his body twist and break in means his mind strugged to interpret. Timothy stared in horror at his brother's face as he typed furiously, desperate the disconnect the sensors in the UAV to the real-time emulators in Jim's suit. After a few moments, the pain in his face faded and he just relaxed, unmoving.

"Jim?!" yelled Timothy. "JIM!"

"Eh, that sucked," croaked Jim as he rolled his eyes back into place. He glanced down at the video feed from his brother's lab and weakly smiled. "I'm intact."

"I'm cutting the feed completely," announced Timothy.

"No! Wait, I'm still receiving visuals," Jim righted himself and reached out, trying to activate the repair features of the cybertronic drone. "It's still running. Can you try and reconfigure the drone again, we may need to resort to something more like a jeep for the time being."

"Fine," sighed Timothy. "But I'm not reconnecting the sensor data to your simulator again.

Jim shook his head. "That's fine, I don't really want to experience that again."

"I told you so," muttered Timothy. "I'm repairing the camera and changing configuration into a three wheeler. Speakers and audio receivers are also online."

Jim looked around and saw the dark figure standing over him. He was a small man, slightly hunched, staring at Jim with a frown and holding his staff at ready. Jim recognized him immediately as Monkey Fist.

"What is this, some sort of toy from Drakken?" mused Monkey Fist aloud.

"You're live," whispered Timothy.

"Uh--" started Jim feeling weird hearing his voice echo though the drone microseconds after speaking. "No! No, I'm not from Drakken."

"An AI?" asked Monkey Fist. "What do you want here?" Monkey Fist held his staff at ready which, given his relative size to the UAV felt very intimidating to Jimm.

"I'm actually here looking for DNAmy," said Jim. "I'm not here to hurt anyone, really. I'm just here to ask for her help."

"Hmph," grumbled Monkey Fist and looked uneasily around. His posture suddenly changed from hunched to a slump. He rolled his eyes and looked to the side. "Sweetheart, it's for you," he said in a strange falsetto. Turning back to look at Jim his serious frown belied his weakened posture. "You're just a toy, so do anything suspicious and I'll break you in a million pieces."

"Coming!" a woman's voice echoed from elsewhere in the temple. Jim sweated. This was surreal, much more so than he expected from the data he'd uncovered. He knew Monkey Fist and DNAmy were 'together' but he had no idea as to what capacity. Monkey Fist's reactions and the strange layout of the stone citadel only added further confusion instead of clarity.

Moments later, a large hulking figure bounded from the shadows. It was DNAmy, well, it was the head of DNAmy. Years ago she had mutated herself to be mostly gorilla but had kept the appearance of her face. According to the news reports, she claimed it was her 'most charming element.' As the giant simian stamped up him, Jim had to admit he couldn't see it.

"Well, hello! Who are you, little guy?" asked Amy, in a decidedly non-gorilla-like voice.

"Uh, call me Jim," said Jim, feeling awkward.

"That's a strange name for an AI," commented Amy. "I suppose I don't know what normal is for an AI though, apart from HAL."

"Well, Hal was taken," said Jim. "And my creator's name was James." Well, that was somewhat true, he thought.

"Not very creative, was he?"

"Not particularly," nodded Jim. "Anyway..."

"So why are you here looking for me?" asked Amy. "I don't know anything about robotics."

"Actually, I'm here looking for your medical expertise," said Jim. "On behalf of Kim Possible."

"Possible!?" echoed a voice from the other end of the hall. Jim assumed it was Monkey Fist.

"Calm down, dear!" yelled Amy back. "I'll take care of this." She looked back down at Jim. "Possible?" she asked with an arched brow. "She's back in the hero business?"

"Sort of... well, maybe not," Jim quickly said. "But she is trying to help this ... uh, family, and they have a pretty serious genetic disorder that have ... um, 'traditional' doctors stumped. It's a long shot, but she thought you might be able to help."

"Why would I help Kim Possible with anything?" asked Amy. "She was my enemy as much as Monty's." She turned slightly and looked thoughtful, a difficult feat considering her form. "I heard all about that business a few years back with those robotic clones and I feel bad for her, but that doesn't make us friends."

"She could owe you one?" suggested Jim.

"She's too goody-goody to let me get away with a crime, even IF she owed me one," grumbled Amy.

"You'd be surprised what she'd do for this person," said Jim, under his breath. He spoke up, "How about because you owe her one?"

"What? How?" Amy frowned.

"Well, you never were indicted for that genomic sequencer thing," said Jim. "And even though you have a non-expiring warrant for your arrest Kim didn't make any effort to turn you in when she first found you out here."

Amy narrowed her eyes. "You seem to know a lot about Kim's interactions with me."

"Research is just a matter of downloading files for me," said Jim, almost robotically. In the simulator, he smirked.

"Ease it off, compu-boy," Timothy said in his ear. "You don't want her to get suspicious. And whose family are we helping? I thought you said it was Kim's boyfriend who was sick."

"Whoops," said Jim, waving his hand absently towards where he knew, in the simulator room, his terminal rested. Suddenly Timothy's video feed froze then vanished.

"I don't owe Kim Possible anything," DNAmy eventually said, sounding slightly unsure. "And even if I did, I don't do that sort of work anymore." She held up her hairy hands. "I don't have the dexterity for it these days."

"I can help," said Jim. "My body is capable of simulating several medical instruments and analysis equipment. Direct me through the experiments. You do the thinking."

"What sort of genetic defect are we talking about?" Amy put her hand to her chin. "Inherited by the mother or father?"

"Actually, it's the result of mutation due to exposure to a radioactive element." Jim wracked his brain to remember the files that Kim recovered from Shego's house. He wasn't sure he was explaining it right. He kept thinking it sounded like dialogue from a comic book.

"What element?" said Amy, sitting down before the UAV.

"Um, would you believe a meteor from space?"

"Fascinating..."

------

--Infiltration--

Kim stared down for the second time at a Team Go member in a hospital bed and started to wonder what the possible outcomes were for all of this. It was only yesterday she thought things were finally starting to go smoothly between her and Shego, as strange as it first felt they were starting to build... something. Kim wasn't sure what but she desperately wanted to know. But now, looking down at Mego of Team Go, she wondered if 'smoothly' was an adjective she was simply forbidden to apply to her own life.

They had gone in sequence, from eldest to youngest, leaving Kim to wonder just how long Shego knew this day was coming. Based on what the doctors had said, Hego had been at this hospital too at one point, but had dashed off in search of his sister, hoping she wasn't writhing in pain alone somewhere in Middleton. How he ended up at the University was a question still unanswered, but if he hadn't collapsed in the quad early yesterday morning, it was possible Kim never would have known anything about this until she found Shego's body one morning.

Kim shivered at the thought and tried to keep her mind on her work.

She touched a small transceiver hanging from her ear. "Okay, I've got all the samples now," she said to the air. In her hand was a PDA-device similar to her Kimmunicator from the days of old. This one, however, had been designed by her brother, Jim, and was relaying the younger sibling's voice periodically to Kim's earpiece. "I'm transmitting the information now." Her fingers brushed lightly over the smooth touch screen and sent the decoded DNA information from each of the three Team Go brothers still at the Go City Hospital. She'd made sure to label them 'Mego,' 'Wego 1,' and Wego 2,' even though the charts at this hospital had revealed their real names. They wore masks for a reason and Kim wanted to respect that, especially if these were their last--

She felt sick completing that thought and just let it hang.

"Thanks, sis," said Jim over the transceiver. "I appreciate you detouring."

"It's all for nothing if we can't do anything for Shego, so it's no big," said Kim. She slipped the PDA back into her pocket and moved purposely out of the room. She glanced once at the next room over, the one holding the two Wego twins, but walked away and back towards the elevators. "Are you sure you can trust DNAmy?"

"I think she's intrigued enough to put in a genuine effort," admitted Jim. "She's crazy, but not maniacal. It seems like all her efforts go towards making a happy home life for herself and Monty. Which is just..." he trailed off.

"Weird," finished Kim. She reached the elevators and stepped into one, pushing the button for the top floor. "I need you to tap into the GeneNominal security system."

"Already there," replied Jim. "Although if someone else is watching, they're going to see you just like me. I was able to tap into security but I can't manipulate it from here."

"That's more than I used to get on my missions, Jim, don't sweat it." Kim stepped out of the elevator and ascended the half-height staircase that ended in the doorway to the roof. A breeze was pushing itself under the doorway and sending a chill across Kim's ankles. She shivered and opened the door.

The hospital wasn't an exceptionally tall building in Go city, standing only 18 stories tall, but it was an easily accessible roof and if there was anything that Kim had learned in her years of rescuing its that the roof is always less guarded than most other entry points. Vents and gratings, while classic, frequently wouldn't support the weight of a person or led nowhere but to furnaces or smaller ductwork that would keep anyone over two years old from crawling through. Basement entry was generally easy, but often forced one to pass through the lobby, which was always thick with security.

Staring off the hospital roof, she could see the GeneNominal tower a couple blocks away. There was another thing she'd learned over the years: The taller the building, the easier it was to get in through the roof. Looking at the 50+ floors of the tower, Kim knew there was only one path open to her.

Pulling out her trusty hairdryer, she aimed it at the roof of the Go National Bank, an intermediary building between the hospital and the GeneNominal tower. The older, mechanical grapple had seen better days, and Kim was hard pressed to find a reason to use it in recent years, but it'd been effective when she was chasing Shego across roof tops not too long ago, and hoped it had at least another day's use in it before breaking.

With a quiet burst, the grappling hook flew out and hooked onto the stone portcullis-like edge to the bank. A few seconds of flying through the air and she was pulling herself over the rim of the building. Taking only a second to breath, she aimed at the significantly taller GeneNominal building.

"Kim," a voice said to her.

"What is it?" asked Kim, steadying her aim. "I'm a little busy."

"Hang on," Jim insisted. "You're too close to the building, the grapple won't pull you up fast enough to avoid hitting the windows."

Kim frowned, and lowered the hairdryer. "So, what then? I don't have my jetpack anymore, or Prometheus." Kim scanned the nearby buildings. "There's nothing else close enough or tall enough to substitute." She paused. "Well, I could swing off a corner, then throw myself onto the roof."

"You'll be visible to a lot of the building going that route," warned Jim. "If anyone is looking out at the time you're swinging past, then your secrecy will be shot. You'd have been better off trying to register as a guest in the lobby."

"Why didn't we go that route again?" asked Kim.

"You're the dramatic one," quipped Jim. "I've got some security cameras covering the offices in the East and South sides of the building, but not much. You'd be taking a gamble."

"Well," Kim shrugged as she raised the grapple again. "That'd be no different than the old days." Closing one eye and pointing the gun at the corner of the tower, she fired.

The hook sailed through the air and grabbed the roof of the building near to the corner and held tight. Automatically, the hairdryer yanked her up into the air following the cord to its end. She squinted her eyes to peer through the air rushing past her as she saw the side of the building approach her at a dangerous speed. Throwing her weight to one side and holding out her arm like a single wing she caused her path so arc slightly to the side. With a start she realized it was too slight and the building was still in her path.

"Crap," was all she could mutter in the microseconds as she flung her feet forward and bent her knees to absorb the shock.

The sudden crack was loud and vibrated through Kim's whole body in advance of the piercing pain in her legs. She saw stars as her vision swam in the sharp feeling. She desperately shoved the sensation elsewhere in her brain as she focused on her grip on the hairdryer. No matter what just had happened to her knees, if she slipped off that handle, they would only be cleaning up a puddle of her on the pavement.

When Kim could concentrate enough to see straight she was already swinging away from the building. She had apparently 'bounced' to the side and around the corner of the tower and her hairdryer was pulling her up fast enough now that she would reach the top before swinging back down again. Looking down, Kim saw the awful twist in her one leg and felt the throbbing all over her body and almost cried. She steeled herself all the same, this wasn't the time to get weepy.

Reaching over the ledge of the building once she reached the top, she pulled herself over, knowing better than to rely on her now questionable legs. Stumbling over the edge, she landed in a heap on the rooftop that sent all sorts of new pain sensations up her spine. With a grunt, she pulled her legs straight and laid flat on her back, breathing heavily.

"Kim!?" the concerned sound of Jim's voice sounded in her ear. Kim winced at the sudden loud noise but made no effort to move more. "What was that? Are you alright?"

"Ye...ah," Kim managed. "Just a ... slight miscalculation." She raised her head and looked around the rooftop for the first time. "Hm... I don't see a door."

"What do you mean a miscalculation?" said Jim. "Did you hit the building?"

"A little," said Kim weakly. Sweating, she forced herself to sit up and dragged herself to a large central ventilation duct sticking out of the roof to lean her back against. Breathing deeply, she looked down at her crooked leg again. "I think I dislocated my knee."

"Oh god," said Jim and Kim could almost feel him shivering through the connection. "You need a doctor!"

"I hear there are some downstairs," offered Kim. She leaned forward and started moving her hands down from her thigh towards the awkward knee.

"I'm serious, Kim, I'll get a helicopter to come pick you up."

"I'm not sure they're going to let a medical helicopter land on a building I was breaking into," said Kim. She gritted her teeth against the pain as she felt around the knee then grabbed her calf firmly. "Also, there's no helipad here."

"You can't very well --"

"YEEAGH!" Kim howled for a moment.

"-- fix it your... Kim! What just happened?"

Kim heaved deep breathes though her teeth as her leg twitched slightly and she dug her nails into the clay tiles on the roof. Her eyes were squeezed shut as she tried to keep herself from going mad from the pain.

"Kim!"

After several agonizing minutes the pain started to dull and Kim could bear to relax slightly. She had fallen onto her side and was covered in sweat. "I'm still here, Jim," she said softly.

"What happened?"

"A lot of pain," muttered Kim. "I'll be fine in a few minutes. Not the first time that's happened."

"Are you serious?"

"Heh," Kim laughed weakly. "Can you find me a way into the building? I don't see a door here."

"I don't think you should continue--"

"Jim," pleaded Kim. "I'm already here. There is no way out that doesn't involve GeneNominal finding me. Help me leave with Shego."

Kim slithered out of her jacket and started wrapping it around her knee. "If you leave now, I'll end up being trapped here."

"I know!" yelled Jim back, surprising Kim. "I'm looking through the schematics now." He paused for several moments. "Jesus, Kim, were you always this obsessed?"

Kim tied the sleeves of her jacket into a knot and leaned back again to stare up at the sky. "Things change, tweeb." She smiled.

"Yeah, but not always for the better," grumbled Jim. "There's a service vent to the top floor from where you are. You should also be able to get to the elevator shafts from that floor as well without much trouble but that puts you on the wrong side of security."

Kim took several breaths before pushing herself up onto her legs. Immediately she felt her knee start to give and she gripped the ventilation duct for support. The slightly smoky and warm air blew up at her though the grating causing her hair to whip around her face.

"Fire staircases aren't much better though," continued Jim. "You'll probably have to find a way in regardless of how you get to the floor Shego's on."

Kim breathed and again tried to stand, this time remaining standing for several seconds before falling to her good knee. "Do you have any idea where Shego might be?" she asked.

"Not really," admitted Jim. "Since I started watching the security feeds I haven't seen her or anyone I recognize. It looks like doctors are on floors twenty-six through thirty and some tighter security on floors twenty-seven and twenty eight. But I can't monitor any full floor and there's no telling if I'm seeing doctors or a convention of people like to wear lab coats."

Kim clenched her fists as she stared at her quivering leg. There was no time for weakness, if she didn't find Shego quick, something... irreparable might happen.

"Lets start at twenty-seven," said Kim, then, with only a slight grunt, she pushed herself back onto her feet and started walking. The piercing pain would dull eventually, she convinced herself, and if it didn't, she'd bear through it anyway.

Finding the hatch in the corner of the roof, she pulled it up and dropped through the hole, landing hard on the floor beneath it. A series of dim lights lit the largely perfunctory floor, with solid lines of paint on the walls pointing the way to air filtration maintenance, wiring closets, and the elevator motors.

Putting her hand against the wall, Kim limped slowly towards elevator maintenance.

------

The massive fleet of vehicles sat silently within the tall grey walls of the hanger. Each car, truck, jet, plane, and hovercraft were lined up in straight lines perfectly parallel with the length of the huge room and angled slightly so that if an immediate departure was required, it would require that many fewer seconds to leave. All of which was incredibly fortunate for the lone figure running between the rows of jets looking over his shoulder at the double doors that led out of the hangar and into the underground facility that was Global Justice Midwest Headquarters.

The figure, a man, tall, with dark black hair and eyes, stared at the last jet in the row as he ran desperately towards it. The doors behind him burst open suddenly and a taller, heavy built man named Commander Ferris came barging out followed by a half dozen other GJ agents, guns already out and aiming.

"Hold it right there!" yelled Ferris in his booming voice before motioning to the agents behind him. A soft series of clicks resounded and shots started flying towards the figure running who dodged deftly.

"Dammit! Shut those hanger doors!" yelled Ferris over his shoulder. An agent with short blonde hair and glasses was quickly tapping on a panel by the doors they'd entered the hanger from. He grumbled something then made a fist and slammed the panel in anger.

"The system thinks the doors ARE closed!" yelled the agent. "She must have messed with it."

"I can't believe we succeed at anything," grumbled Ferris under his breath as he began to run after the dark figure. His speed was surprising for his size, and he was quickly closing the distance with his prey.

The fleeing man noticed the approaching giant and reached into a pocket to pull out a small remote which activated the last jet in the row. He was only a few yards away and would easily make it before Ferris caught him. Smiling widely, he laughed once before finishing the last few steps and diving into the jet, immediately putting on the engines, causing it to effortlessly rise up on its auxiliary hover engines.

"NO!" screamed Ferris as he pointed his gun up and began firing at the jet's engines, open gear, intake ports, anything to get it fail. His shots rang out but proved ineffective at stopping the black jet which immediately turned towards the open hangar and jetted off into the morning sky, the hangar doors finally closing behind it.

"I can't believe she got away," said a man who walked up behind Ferris. He turned and looked and was almost overcome by rage at the fact that he looked completely identical to the man who had just fled the facility. He calmed himself quickly, though, remembering that the man before him was the real Agent Will Du and that the one who had just escaped was actually Allucinere mimicking his form.

"It is perfectly within my ability to believe," said Ferris. He straightened his uniform and walked past Agent Du. "She played us masterfully. She must have been studying us for months."

"Not dressed as me," protested Will quickly moving beside him.

"There's no way to know for sure. Her new luminocodec seems capable of duplicated biological scans, including fingerprint."

"Why now then?" asked Will. "Why wait forever and then escape like this when she could have just walked out, or completely subverted us from inside?"

"The new protocols that we imitated to authenticate agents must have tipped her off that we were close," nodded Ferris. The two reached the group of agents by the door and they filed behind them. "She probably realized she wouldn't be able to hide for long and decided to cut and run."

"I'm having the entire R&D team come up with new ways of improving security here," said Will. "Everything is going into making sure she doesn't get back in."

"Unless she winds up in another coma," grumbled Ferris. "Lets schedule the debriefing for forty minutes from now."

"Agreed," nodded Will.

Reaching an intersection in the corridor Will turned and moved down a different hall than Ferris, taking the team of agents with him.

Ferris wiped his brow from the exhaustion of running after the surprisingly swift Allucinere and tugged at his collar to properly present himself before continuing down the hall and into the Command Center. Looking up at the glass "bowl" that held Doctor Director's office he nodded to himself and walked up and inside.

"Commander," nodded Betty Director, looking up only once from the 'paperwork' that glowed from her virtual desktop.

"Director," returned Ferris. He frowned. "You're oddly... composed."

Betty paused and looked up at Ferris. "Believe me Ferris, after all that's happened in the last 48 hours, I just want to scream and pull out my hair, but that will help neither the situation nor this office." She looked down and tapped a few of the windows displayed on her desk, closing them. "Keeping a calm mind is the only thing that's going to get us through this."

"I wish I could keep my composure as well as you," commented Ferris. He finally moved all the way into the office and sat at the chair beside Betty's desk. "She was still here, like we suspected."

"Apparently so," said Betty. "I'm alarmed at how easily she got away. She may have collaborators inside GJ."

"I can't imagine how she could have created an network of allies while in a coma," said Ferris. "I find it easier to believe she's always been nearby, watching us, so she knew exactly how we'd respond. Maya was always quite intelligent, which was why she was recruited to be an agent."

"And why she was so easily subverted," reminded Director. "It's not intelligence that ends up dictating our causes, but wisdom, Al."

"Then we would be wise not to fall into the same trap we did last time." He looked down at Betty's desk and noticed a few familiar files still open. "We should bring her in now."

"Yes, I agree," nodded Betty. "Kim suffered last time for our reluctance to involve her, and I don't want history to repeat itself. I'll be sending Du to hopefully convince her to come in to at least hear the news."

"You should just tell Shego to bring her in," said Ferris. "Speaking of, we locked her out of all GJ buildings when this all started. We should notify GJ Northeast to remove the ban."

"Let's hold off until we know more," said Betty. "I don't think Shego is involved, but as long as Allucinere is out there with a GJ jet, we can't be too careful."

"Very well," nodded Ferris.

"Find out what jet was stolen, and where she's heading. Once you know which jet she's in, you should be able to activate the homing circuits to track her down. Also, have the Quartermaster do a complete inventory of all GJ equipment and supplies. I want to know everything that was taken, from the inventory on the jet to items from the mess hall."

"She didn't appear to be carrying anything when we were chasing her," said Ferris. "But she also looked exactly like Agent Du, so she could have been hiding her stolen goods. I'll make sure Allen does a thorough check."

"Thanks." Betty sighed and shook her head.

Ferris frowned and leaned forward to take Betty's hand. "It's all right. We'll wrap this up quickly this time."

Betty looked up at Ferris and smiled weakly but had nothing to say.

------

The heavy fog that had annoying settled over her mind started to clear and for the first time in several hours Shego felt reality coalesce around her once more. At first the oppressive darkness continued to hang off her like a heavy tarp, begging her to stay unconscious. But the dreams -- no, nightmares she had been plagued with were more than enough incentive to spend as much time as she could awake.

Heavily, Shego picked her head and tried to rub the ache in her temples away but found herself bound to the table she was lying on. For a minute she was someplace else, far away and years earlier, caught in the trap of some villain who hated Drakken, or worse, someone from her own checkered past catching up with her. She felt the adrenaline rush and instinct to escape as her arms flared up with green flame, growing brighter and stronger with each second to burn or melt whatever restraints were pinning her against the cool table. Her eyes shut as she strained against the braces trying desperately to --

"Those are there for you safety as much as ours, Shego."

Shego paused and opened her eyes again. Looking around she saw the large blank, curved white walls around her, slightly scarred with black. The lingering smell of burnt... something tickled her nose and she coughed slightly before remembering the truth. She was in Mason's chamber at GeneNominal.

Raising her head slightly she looked to see the single window in the largely featureless room. Behind the thick glass stood the pale man in the dark blue suit: Mason.

"Good morning," he said in a falsetto voice that was probably meant to sound comforting but instead was just creepy.

"What happened?" asked Shego, putting her head down and focusing on the ceiling.

"You had a bad dream, but it's all better now," Mason continued the coy sounding voice.

"Why am I restrained, Mason?" yelled Shego.

"Because you aren't exactly in control of your faculties, Shego," Mason said plainly. "You had a nightmare and somehow the symbiote interpreted that as a command to unleash your full power, something we've never had the opportunity to test for good reason." Mason folded his arms. "You pushed the limits of the chamber itself. Suffice to say, if you go out of control again, we may resort to more permanent solutions to curtail your possibly devastating power."

Shego thought about that for a second, but failed. "What?"

"Your power is quite possibly strong enough to melt this whole building," explained Mason. "If not this whole block. We can't take the risk of you going out of control like that again. Which means you're gonna be either awake and agreeable or we'll be forced to induce a coma like what happened to your brothers." He paused. "I would prefer awake and agreeable, as we'd get the most out of our research."

"Dammit, Mason," cursed Shego. "I came here... I agreed to help you on the condition that you help my brothers."

"On the contrary," hissed Mason. "We only agreed to use our findings to determine a method of saving your brothers. There was no guarantee of success on our part as there very well may not be a cure to your condition."

"You son of a bitch, Mason." Shego struggled against the restraints again. "You know that's not what I intended!"

"Of course not, but the world runs on contracts and litigations, not backyard deals sealed with handshakes." Mason raised an eyebrow. "How did you think a company this big got so big, anyway?"

"I'll kill you, you midget fucker!" yelled Shego.

"Now, now, that would be in violation of your contract, Shego." Mason smiled evilly and Shego began imaging ways of tearing off his head. "You belong to GeneNominal now. And don't go jumping to conclusions, if we do find something that can help the rest of Team Go, we'll gladly provide it to the hospital they're at. Eventually."

Shego struggled for a few minutes more but eventually sighed and laid back down again. "Have you at least figured out what's wrong?"

"The symbiote we bonded you with to control the powers you gained from the meteor is starting to become ... disagreeable."

Shego looked up at Mason again. "Disagreeable?"

"The parasite was chosen because of it's unique reaction to the meteor power, but also because it was fairly docile," explained Mason. "Its symbiotic relationship with its host afforded the host full control over it, as long as it received the proper nutrients and energy bleed-off from your body."

Mason turn to the side and picked up a clipboard from somewhere beyond the view of the window. "It appears, though, over time the symbiote begins to resist control and tries to dominate its host. It gradually inhibits the production of serotonin in the brain and eventually all neurotransmitters until it dominates all higher brain functions. Then, like a puppeteer, it begins producing its own neurotransmitters and operates the body by proxy."

Shego's eyes were wide with horror and she had to force her body to calm itself and lay back on the table. "Jesus. This is already happening to me?"

Mason nodded. "The symbiote is apparently not completely familiar with the human brain, it's moving slowly, looking for the areas of your brain it wants to interrupt. You've been injected with some serotonin uptake enhancers and some epinephrine to slow the progress of the symbiote until we can figure out how to get to play nice again."

"Are you joking?" asked Shego. "Something is rooting around randomly in my brain, YOU put it there, and you have no idea how to stop it?"

"I'm quite serious, Shego," Mason frowned. "This represents a serious flaw in our super-soldier program and I would definitely have preferred not to find it."

"Fuck your program! My FAMILY is going to suffer for your mistake!" Shego growled.

"The adrenaline is putting you on edge," Mason said evenly. "Calm yourself."

"You will NOT let that happen to my brothers!" yelled Shego. "Remove the symbiote if you have to!"

"That will most certainly kill them," reminded Mason. "As you were dying when we first met, if you recall. Only the symbiote can effectively control the strange meteor energy you were bleeding out of your body. Without it, the power will build beyond your ability to manipulate and Hego's body will pull itself apart, Mego will shrink to atomic size then simply cease to be, and the Wegos will become an endless army of brain-dead drones."

Shego bit her lip. The thought of her brothers going through that... it was like a sharp pain in her gut. She'd bared plenty of ill-will towards her family for their actions, her eldest brother in particular, but she never wanted them dead or even suffering.

"There has to be way to save them," Shego softly said.

"There is no substitute to the symbiote," explained Mason. "The only option is find a means of chemically subduing it, make it docile again. But we don't understand the chemistry of the creature, not enough to do to it the same things it's doing to you."

Mason raised his eyebrows. "But now that you're awake, and here, we can start tests to find out." He put the clipboard down again. "So check your anger. If you fight me, we'll never find the solution in time to save anyone."

Shego turned her head away and stared at the white wall. A few moments later she heard the clicks of Mason's shoes as they strode away.

"Good god," said Shego. "What have I gotten myself into?"

_No good_, a thought echoed in her mind, though Shego wasn't quite sure where it came from.

------

The steel cart rolled through the metal archway clinking and clattering as the vials and beakers banged together when the wheels rolled over the raised track on the ground. Without ceremony, the nebbish looking girl in the long labcoat and striking red hair in a bun pushing the cart held up her ID to the scanner. The plastic grey panel on the wall had three lights on it, one which glowed green, all the time, another which glowed yellow when the girl's ID made contact with the device, a final one which would glow red if something was wrong. The girl's bangs fell in front of her eyes but her teeth were clenched together as the panel hesitated on the yellow light for several seconds.

Finally, without a sound, the yellow light vanished and only the green remained. The guard sitting on the secured side of the archway glanced over at his monitor and then returned to reading his book. "You're early, Dr. Cavendish," the thin guard said, never really meeting eyes with the girl.

"Meh," said the girl as she pushed through the archway and past the guard.

"Hah, I know the feeling," he replied and turned the page of his novel.

Hoping there was no more to be said, the girl pushed the cart down to the first intersection of the corridor and turned right. Once out of sight from the guard, she took a look around quickly.

"There's no one coming," a voice in her ear spoke.

Letting out her held breath, Kim finally raised her head and took her weight off her bad knee. The throbbing was intense and drowned out almost every other feeling she had at the moment. Leaning against the cart, Kim held her hand to her ear and peered down the remainder of the hallway.

"Got any suggestions as to direction?" she spoke softly.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Jim's voice replied through the earpiece. "I only have security video of that checkpoint you went through, and schematics only tell me the dimensions of rooms, not necessarily their contents." He paused. "Except for bathrooms, I guess, they have plumbing."

"There has got to be some way of narrowing this down, the floor is huge." Kim looked down at the cart and picked up the clipboard listing the delivery destinations of the cartful of chemicals she was pushing. "Maybe this will give me a clue."

"What do you have?" asked Jim.

"A list of deliveries," Kim said as her eyes scanned the first page. "Looks like a lot of test results and storage materials. Most of this is going to go into the service station on this floor. I guess they distribute most supplies from one point on each floor."

"If Shego's being held against her will," offered Jim. "They might be going through a lot of sedatives. Any deliveries to rooms like that?"

"Not really," Kim shook her head, then sighed. "I'm not entirely sure she's here against her will, either." She dropped the clipboard into the cart again and started pushing it forward. "I'll just do a quick look around, see what I can find."

"Careful, you don't want anyone to see you twice," warned Jim.

"I have done this before, you know," commented Kim.

She pushed the plastic cart down the hall and turned down a few corridors, staring at the plastic nametags on each door. Several times she reached dead ends and had to turn around to go back out the way she came. She prayed that nobody would notice, but thankfully the halls on the floor were largely empty.

After fifteen minutes she started to get depressed and wondered if what she was doing was even sane before she noticed a sign on a fairly heavy door and hesitated.

"Why..." Kim started but hesitated to gather her thoughts.

"Kim?"

"Why did she come here?" Kim finally asked.

"To get herself fixed, I thought," offered Jim though the earpiece. "This place is at the forefront of genetic research."

"But, the way she ran off yesterday, and how she came right here, it's like she knew these guys could help her." Kim tried to articulate the strange feeling she was having. It was as if she had thought at the tip of her tongue but was having a hell of a time trying to remember it.

"Do you think she'd had problems with this company before?" asked Jim. "When she was in Team Go?"

Kim frowned and continued to stare at the door. "Maybe not problems in the criminal sense," she said. The tall steel door said 'Archives' on it. "I mean, she and her brothers had a pretty unique problem, they couldn't just go to a pediatrician."

"You think GeneNominal has studied Shego before?" asked Jim.

Kim shrugged. "There's a way to find out." She pushed open the door and rolled her cart in. Beyond the metal fire door was a large closet full of rows of filing cabinets. Kim figured there were hundreds of project files stored here, sorted alphabetically in labeled drawers.

Kim recalled the last name she saw on Mego's chart and immediately headed towards the 'K's. The first drawer she opened in the series had the massive file stored in it.

"Where are you?" asked Jim, sounding a little left-out.

"Archives," Kim said, pulling up the file and starting to page through it. "They have been here before."

"Shego?" asked Jim.

"All of them, all of Team Go." Kim pulled up a summary and started reading. "It looks like a meteor really did hit their tree-house as children. They were brought to VersaGene when they started using their powers uncontrollably. The scientists here studied their ability and the remains of the meteor in order to find a way to turn them into weapons. They got consent from their parents to experiment on them." Kim put her had to her mouth. "This is terrible."

"What?" asked Jim.

"They used them like guinea pigs to find out how to create an army of super-soldiers." Kim shook her head. "They put this... creature that was mutated by the impact of the meteor into their bodies. That must be what that cluster of nerves was that Justin pointed out to me. It tempers their power, makes it more manageable for them to use."

"What about when you had their power?" asked Jim. "Did you get a creature thingy?"

"No," Kim shook her head and paged faster through the file. "But it looks like that if I held onto Hego's power much longer than I did I might have had trouble controlling it." She read a page, frowned and read it again. "Hm... this looks like an addendum. After Shego left Team Go and joined Drakken."

"What is it?"

"Some sort of analysis based on watching Team Go and Shego fight." Kim turned the page. "They determined that Shego absorbed more of the meteor power than her brothers. She's the strongest of all of them but it also meant that they had a hard time getting the creature to adapt to her. There's some concern that the power would overwhelm her eventually and a containment unit would have to be built just to keep her from destroying everything around her."

"A containment unit?" asked Jim. "Like a box?"

"More like a prison," said Kim. "A room where her power could be contained if she ever lost contro--" Kim suddenly closed the file. "They built it here, in this building." Kim closed the file drawer but put the large folder into the cart.

"Where?"

Kim headed for the door. "One floor below me."

----------

--Recovery--

The eerie voice was dark, rumbling, sinister. But the things it said were persuasive, tantalizing, and not at all beyond the realm of possibility, which just made Shego all the more nervous when she realized that the voice speaking to her was a twisted version of her own.

_There is nothing to be gained here_, said the voice in Shego's head. _Why wait around for that bastard to cut you open like a fetal pig?_

"There's a chance..." said Shego slowly. "A far shot, but a chance he'll find what he needs to fix my brothers. I can't run from that chance."

_Why not? You've done it before_. The voice sounded almost sickly, like it was straining just to be heard. It didn't make Shego feel any better though.

"Because I'm not like that anymore, I'm trying to be better," explained Shego, wondering if she should be speaking aloud to a voice in her head. "And my brothers have always been important to me."

_They weren't that important when you were stealing their powers, reminded the being that used her voice. And who says you're being 'better'? Your weakling girlfriend? What does she know?_

"She knows what good I can do," said Shego, not entirely believing herself. "She believes in me the way Hego never did."

_It's just her opinion of 'better,' not a universal one. Remember when you stole the Eye of Calindar?_ The voice almost seemed to shiver with delight.

Shego frowned, she remembered pilfering that gemstone. Impenetrable, they'd' said. Feh! She was in and out of that vault in a matter of minutes. Nobody could challenger her then, she'd broken all the rules and still proven she was the best of all thieves. That caused her first Interpol warrant for arrest, doing the job of letting the whole world know she'd bested them.

_You see? Weren't those better days?_

Shego swallowed. "What was the point though? Just doing those things to have people praise me, or to have authority hate me? That's not a life, it's a vain display." Shego always loved going after those baubles that other people protected so feverishly. The chase was thrill she lived for.

_You can't lie to me, I'm in your mind,_ said the scary voice causing Shego to shiver.

"Who are you?" she asked, finally.

_I'm you, of course. Your 'good' conscious._

"Bullshit, you're the symbiote," Shego snapped.

_The symbiote has no mind, no desires except for control and even then no idea what to do with that power, _explained the voice._ I'm not the symbiote, I'm the part of you you're hiding from. I'm the part of you that remembers the thrill of the chase, the power in your palm when you've stolen a jewel, the satisfying crunch when you've utterly bested some foolish sap who tried to stop you._

"You're the being in my dream," said Shego. "The evil version of me."

_Not evil. PURE. The you that exist outside of foolish rules and societal pressures_. The voice cackled. _I'm more you than YOU are._

Shego turned her head. She refused to accept it. Sure, she was a little sadistic sometimes, and she'd done a lot of admittedly evil things just to feel powerful and strong. Also, she liked to have control over things, even people...

_Do I need to say more? You're doing my work for me._

"No," Shego shook her head. "That's not all there is to me!"

_It's all that matters._

"But you're wrong! I ... I have other pure desires," stammered Shego. "Ones that aren't wrapped in sadism or some other evil feeling. I have--"

"Shego!" A voice broke her rambling. Shego blinked and felt her heart sink as she considered there might be a second voice in her head.

"Shego? Are you all right?" The voice came back, but it was familiar and definitely not in her head. Shego rose her head to look at the window and what she saw picked her heart right up and made it soar.

"What did they do to you?" asked Kim through the glass, her hands pressed against it and her face twisted with worry.

She looked beautiful.

"Kim," Shego said with relief.

_Have her bust you outta here and let's get revenge on that prick, Mason!_

"Hush," Shego muttered under her breath.

"Shego," Kim just repeated back trying to smile. She was wearing a lab coat and had her hair up in a bun, which Shego could conceivably believe was some sort of disguise. She did look kinda like a sexy librarian though, and Shego filed that knowledge for later use.

"Why didn't you talk to me about all this?" asked Kim, looking worried again. "I could have helped you."

Shego felt pain in her chest but bore through it. "I should have," she said. "I'm sorry."

"Have they done anything to you?"

Shego laughed faintly. "Nothing major," she said. She stared at Kim and suddenly felt strange, like her insides were twisting. "I'm--" she had trouble getting out her own words. "I'm... really glad to see you."

"Shego," Kim softly said.

The former thief felt the wetness on her cheeks long before she realized she was crying. "I'm sorry," she said, laying her head back down to hide her weakness from her lover. "It's been a terrible day and I'm not feeling like myself." She laughed again between her tears and spoke quietly. "Isn't this pure, too?"

The voice said nothing.

"It's okay," Kim assured. "I'll get you out of here and we'll go back home."

"No, Kim," Shego looked up suddenly. "I need to be here. These guys -- they stand the best chance at finding a cure for my brothers. I have to stay."

"They'll kill you before helping your brothers," Kim said. "I've read the files on your project, and VersaGene has only ever had one thing on their mind and it was never helping you."

"You're quite correct, Ms Possible," said a slimy voice and Shego immediately felt terror.

Kim turned from the window and saw the tall suited man and the two burly security soldiers behind him. Kim stepped back into defensive posture but winced when pain went shooting up from her leg.

"Not that it matters at all," said Mason with a smile. He produced an envelope and pulled out a folded pack of papers. "Shego has already signed a legal contact allowing us to conduct 'human trial experiments of indeterminable duration.' Taking her from us would be akin to..." he looked up in thought then smiled widely. "Theft of property."

"She's a human being, you can't own her," snapped Kim. Her leg was starting to throb heavily again and she adjusted her stance to take her weight off of it.

Mason slipped the papers back into the folder and then dropped it into his pocket. "Through a series of legal loopholes and equitable judges, I assure you, we can. You, on the other hand, have broken into private property and, given the nature of the supplies kept her, including Schedule IV Narcotics, I'm actually allowed to exercise extreme prejudice in eliminating threats."

"Don't touch her, Mason!" screamed Shego from the room.

"My, such camaraderie from enemies," commented Mason. "I thought you two hated one another."

"Let Shego go!" said Kim.

"There are a lot of demands flying about here," Mason said. "I suggest you let yourself be escorted off to the policy, Ms. Possible. It's the only way that someone won't get hurt."

"I'm not going anywhere until you let Shego go," said Kim. "I'm not abandoning her."

"Kim," pleaded Shego. "Please, don't get hurt over me."

Kim frowned but ignored the pleas. "What's it going to be, Mason?"

"Haven't I made it obvious yet?" asked Mason with a smile, as he motioned to his security. "Shoot her. It's clear she's hopped up on heroin or LSD she stole from restricted storage."

"MASON!" screamed Shego.

The two security soldiers pulled out their guns as they moved in front of Mason but Kim was already on the move. The guard to Mason's left was startled by her speed and her foot struck his gun hand the second the weapon was free from the holster, sending the cold steel flying. Her follow up strike to the gut was not as affective as she felt the man's body armor, but didn't have time to hesitate. Flipping over the stunned soldier, she twisted his arm slightly and then kicked him towards a wide-eyed Mason. The two collapsed in a pile just in time for the second soldier to get off a shot in Kim's direction.

Already in motion, Kim flattened her body as best she could as she ran, trying to keep the soldier's aim off as she closed the few yards and did a sweep to knock him off one of his feet. Quicker than the first, though, this soldier put a hand to the wall to keep from falling and was already aiming his second shot.

Kim rolled as best she could, feeling the pain in her knee every time it struck the hard floor, dodging the two shots that rang out. Once on the opposite side of the room she looked across at the soldier who grinned in satisfaction. They were too far apart now for her to get his weapon before he fired, and they were too close for him to miss.

Kim swallowed and then stated to run right but after only on step she rappelled off the wall and flipped left, landing by the cart of supplies she'd been pushing around earlier. Grabbing the plastic cart with both hand, she spun on her good leg and flung the cart, contents and all, at the soldier who couldn't resist putting up his arms to deflect the flying beakers of glass and questionable chemicals. Even as the cylinders bounced or broke off his elbows the cart followed their act and took him down with a yelp.

Kim heaved deep breaths at the exertion which was more than twice as hard with the pain her knee. She at the window again and wiped the sweat from her brow.

"There's no sense staying now," she said, holding out a hand.

Shego wanted to be upset but she couldn't help herself and smiled. Closing her eyes she ignited her arms with the green energy and let it grow in intensity to melt the metal braces. With each second she felt herself growing brighter and the white walls reflected all the light back at her with a painful intensity. Shego closed her eyes as she made herself burn hotter, the metal bands already starting to get soft around her wrists.

Kim had to look away from the window then, as the light was too bright for her to keep staring, no matter how much she wanted to keep an eye on Shego. She turned away from the sun-like blaze and looked down at the soldiers who were moving slightly. They would be ready for more soon and Kim wasn't really in any condition to keep fighting. Shego had to hurry up.

The soldier on the floor picked up his head and held it in his hand and Kim noticed that Mason was no longer lying beneath him. Kim frowned. "Where did Mason go?"

"Boo." The voice was startlingly close and behind her, and Kim's instinct took over before any conscious thought registered. She spun with her arm out, ready to strike the man Kim knew had to be Mason. As she turned, her head whipped around and she saw that the perpetually grinning suit was holding the first soldier's gun.

Without any option, Kim lashed out at the gun, hoping to knock it away or take it before anything could happen.

Consistent with her luck this day, she wasn't fast enough.

The shot was loud, and Kim wondered if she'd ever been this close to a gun being shot before. The pain ripped through her shoulder and even as she struck Mason's gun and sent it flying, the force of the bullet flung her to the floor as well.

"AGGGK," Kim screamed as she twisted on the floor and held her shoulder. Her whole body screamed in pain that wouldn't quit, from her knee to her hips up her shoulder and into her neck. Everything ached.

Mason stared down at her with disgust. "I find it hard to believe you're the great hero the world always talked about. Our Team Go was much more impressive."

Suddenly the door to the chamber rumbled and Mason realized that the brightness of the room was starting to seep around the edges of the supposedly atmosphere tight door. When the edges starting turning to slag, Mason dove for cover, missing getting hit by the exploding door by inches. Pieces of the thick covering blew through the opposing wall and some even out the windows on opposite side of the building.

Mason looked up as the green mist poured out of the chamber to see Shego, her eyes glowing bright green and her one arm and half her torso dancing with emerald flames. Shego's eyes stared at Kim then at Mason and turned to slits.

"You son of a BITCH!" she screamed and stepped over Kim's form to close in on Mason. Each step she took left tendrils of green fire behind, like a trail in jade. Mason started crawling away but Shego quickly reached him and grabbed his shirt with her normal arm. The heat coming from her body was intense and Mason felt his hair singe.

_Destroy him._

Roughly, Shego flung him against the wall and then grabbed his neck, sliding him up off his feet. "I told you not to touch her," Shego said, her voice twisted and hollow, as if her organs had burned away and only the flames remained within her chest. "You always thought you were so smart. Make your own army. Experiment on children. Never considering how close to being destroyed by your own creations you were. Never realizing that if you hadn't picked good people, moral people, they'd have turned on you in a microsecond."

_Choke him to DEATH!_

"Well, I'm not good anymore," Shego said, bringing her face close to Masons so that his skin started to steam.

"Pp--ppp-" sputtered Mason.

"WHAT?!" yelled Shego.

"Please!" the man begged. "Don't -- ack! -- don't kill me..." He was whimpering.

Shego looked up at him with hate.

_He doesn't deserve mercy._

"Where's that contract?" demanded Shego. Mason reached with trembling hands into his coat and pulled out the envelope. "Is this the only copy?"

Mason nodded in a jerky manner. Shego sneered at him then grabbed the paper with her flaming fist, causing it to turn to dust in her palm. "You are going to send all the information you have on me and my brothers to the St. Reeve Memorial Hospital where they are."

Mason nodded vigorously. The sweat on his face was turning to steam almost immediately. Shego looked away and then threw Mason at the ground, causing him to strike the flooring hard and slide down the hall. He looked up in fear seconds after coming to a stop.

"Our business is done, Mason," she intoned and turned away from him.

_What?! KILL HIM!_

"No, I won't," Shego said simply. She bent down to Kim as the younger one moved to look up at her. She was bleeding from her shoulder quite heavily. "We need to get you to a doctor."

"No kidding," laughed Kim. She smiled weakly. "Can you... turn it down a little, it's getting hot."

Shego laughed.

_Not on your life._

Shego froze in place and her glowing eyes became larger.

_Ha. Ha,_ the voice purposefully laughed.

"No, let me go," Shego yelled to the ceiling.

_Let's light this place up right,_ said the voice.

Shego clenched her fists and concentrated but the fires started spreading over her body instead of going out. She tried again, concentrating even harder.

"Shego!" yelled Kim, suddenly.

Shego opened her eyes and saw the girl slowly backing off as the aura of green started to expand. Looking down, the green girl realized her body hand totally gone ablaze.

"I--I can't control it," Shego said, panicking.

_Of course you can't, that has ALWAYS been my job._

"You ARE the symbiote!" yelled Shego.

"What?" asked Kim, backing up further.

Shego screamed and ran back into the chamber where at least most of her glow was being contained. With the door broken apart, it wouldn't keep indefinitely though.

_You just haven't been listening, have you? _The voice sounded tired. _The symbiote HAS no personality, no voice. So it needed to attach itself to a will, a desire, in order to function and to understand its host._

Shego gripped her head and wished the voice to go away.

_You had such anger in you when you were a girl, the voice continued all the same. Always the outcast, even before you got hit with the meteor. Nobody ever loved or respected you the way you wanted. Everyone was against you, never on your side!_

"SHUT UP!" screamed Shego.

_It was easy to attach to that, strong emotions are always the easiest to understand. Afterwards, it was just a matter of tapping into that anger, which had always been so readily available to you, and the symbiote knew what you wanted. It understood its purpose._

"Noooo..." she yelled weakly.

_To cause destruction._

"I don't want that anymore!" cried Shego.

"Shego?"

Shego looked in panic at the door and saw Kim there, standing against the flames, holding her hand up to keep the heat from her eyes. "Shego," she said again. "Who are you talking to?"

Shego flung her hands back and forth. "Get out! Run, Kim, it's not safe here for you! I don't want to hurt you!"

"What's going on?" she stepped further into the chamber, causing her clothes to smoke.

"Dammit girl, listen to me for once! Get out!"

_Or let her stay, it'll be a barbeque!_

"Tell me, Shego," Kim insisted.

"Arrggh!" screamed Shego at the stupidity of the situation. Why wouldn't she go? "It's the symbiote! It's latched onto my ... hate, my darker thoughts and now it thinks all I want is destruction! It's going to go destroy this place and everything it can find!"

"You can't let it happen," said Kim, stepping closer. She was barely able to open her eyes anymore against light. The heat was causing her skin to turn red.

"I can't stop it," yelled Shego, falling to her knees. "I don't have control anymore. I can't stop it from burning you alive! So, PLEASE... go."

"I can't," Kim said weakly.

"Why not!?"

"Because I need you," she said just above the roar of fire surrounding them. "I came all this way. I can't just run while you self destruct. You're more important to me than that."

"You're important to me too, Kimmie," said Shego through sobs, although her tears turned to mist and floated away before ever striking her cheeks. "That's why I can't let you get hurt because of me. If I go supernova, I don't want to take you with me."

"You don't have a choice," Kim said, smiling with her eyes clothes. Her nose was starting to blister and her hair was slightly melting.

"Kimmie," pleaded Shego.

"Whatever happens, it'll happen to us both," Kim said, holding out her hand.

_What a crazy loon you picked up! This is what happens when you indulge in flings. Let her be roasted, it's her own fault now._

"NO!" yelled Shego. "I won't let her!"

_You don't run things here, I do._

"You exist because of me!" Shego angrily screamed. "You're just a part of me!"

_A part stronger than the rest of you combined, especially now._

"But still just me. You need me to live, to survive. To... to cause more destruction."

_Reasoning with me will do you no good, the symbiote doesn't have any concept of future. Only purpose. If it dies in the process, so be it._

"There has to be a way," cried Shego.

"Shh," said Kim, feeling out Shegos hands and ignoring the burning she felt. "Whatever happens, happens."

"Kim," Shego weakly whined. "Not like this... I didn't want it like this."

Kim smiled through the pain. "It's okay." She pulled herself closer to Shegos body until she could feel them touching. Oddly, this close to the source, it was slightly cool, less intense. She still dared not open her eyes for fear they would melt but she imagined the tall figure she clung to, her black hair whipping about her frame, her sad eyes begging for a miracle.

_Time for a roasting! Do you want white meat or dark? Well, I think everything is going to be blackened so it might not matter._

Kim rested her head against Shego's shoulder, hugging her close. She moved her head slightly after a second and moved her mouth to Shego's ear. "Don't be afraid. That only fuels anger."

Shego nodded, then paused, and nodded again, slower.

"I'm not afraid," Shego said tenderly. She straightened herself and wrapped her arms tightly around Kim. "Because we're both going to be fine."

"There you go," said Kim back.

_Hah, only if you like Cajun-style superhero._

"I know we'll be fine, because I would never cause the death ... " she hesitated for a second, but not because of fear or embarrassment. Suddenly those things didn't matter. What she felt now was... accomplishment. Something that had long eluded her understanding, something that had perplexed her since being a child, was amazingly clear.

"I would never cause the death of the woman I love."

Kim opened her eyes and saw the pale green eyes of Shego staring thoughtfully down at her, the fire having receded from her face. Two pairs of green eyes stared boldly at one another. Shego moved her head quickly towards her but Kim was already ready. Their lips met in silence.

Then the flames surged forth again.

_YOU CAN'T STOP ME! _The dark voice screamed but seemed to be bewildered.

Shego looked up calmly. "I can certainly try."

------

It was lunchtime when the city paused, and turned. People on the street or in buildings, sitting at tables or in meetings, all could feel it and turned almost simultaneously to look at the tall tower near the center of the city.

For exactly five seconds, the entire twenty-sixth floor of the GeneNominal tower glowed bright green, blowing out all the windows on the level.

------

Lazy eyes finally turned towards daylight and parted, taking in the morning sun, letting its warm rays reflect light off everything in the room, showing every little detail on every piece of furniture, clothing, and person. It seemed like a morning like any other, until Shego remembered that the last thing she saw was Kimmie being bathed in her flames.

Her eyes immediately focused and she realized the half-dozen figures in the room were all looking at her, and she was in a normal hospital bed. Shego's eyes scanned over the crowd, not really noticing all the faces, just trying to match their feature with the one set she wanted to see.

Then her eyes found her, standing closest to her, at the side of the hospital bed, her hair tied up in a pony tail, her arm in a sling, and looking a little worse for wear but there, smiling, at her.

"Kimmie?" Shego groaned and felt like she hadn't spoken in years.

"I'm here," Kim said softly, holding Shego's hand.

"You're alive?"

Kim laughed. She shrugged at her sling. "A little worse for wear but-mmfff!"

Shego didn't even have to think about it, her body responded exactly like she wanted to. Her arms were pulling Kim down to her and her mouth was pressed against her lover's. She reveled in the feeling of the soft lips and warmth against her chest and knew, for sure, nothing else in the world mattered.

She was a little curious as to why Kim was stiff at first but after a second she responded in kind.

A soft cough from a woman reminded Shego that there were other people around. She considered ignoring them. Kim patted her on the arm a couple times to suggest that she reconsider.

Shego finally let go and Kim straightened herself, completely flushed. Shego, on the bed, seemed fine, if not looking completely satisfied. She decided to find out who had just see her kiss her Princess. A distant part of her mind remembered they were supposed to be keeping their relationship somewhat of a secret, but at the minute it was impossible to figure out why.

To the left of the bed stood a pair of teenagers, somewhat similar looking, and Shego's mind lazily registered them as Timothy and Jim Possible, Kim's twin brothers. One of them was gaping at her in shock. Turning a little right from them, she saw Beth Corelia, Kim's roommate, who was smiling somewhat proudly at the couple. Further right was Betty Director and Wade Load, who were both somewhat shocked, and Shego realized there might be some fallout there. Then her gaze settled back on Kim.

"What happened?" asked Shego.

"You-- you just kissed Kim!" said Timothy, still with his mouth open.

Shego considered that. "No, I meant before."

"I'm not sure what you did," a tinny voice suddenly rang in the room. Shego looked around and noticed a phone in the room with its speakerphone on. "But it seems like you completely subdued your symbiote. But I'd personally like to hear more about you kissing Kim."

Shego looked dreadfully at Kim, who only had a small smile in response. "Is that... DNAmy on the phone?"

"Uh," Jim interrupted. "She helped find a way of saving your brothers. We figured it was appropriate she be here to explain."

Timothy suddenly straightened and turned his shocked expression towards his brother. "You're not fazed at all!" he observed. "You knew!"

Jim smiled and patted his brother on the back. "Later, later."

"SHE'S the boyfriend?" continued Timothy.

Jim just laughed and started ushering his brother out of the room.

"What did you do to my brothers?" asked Shego.

"It wasn't easy, that's for sure. Nothing I discovered pointed towards a permanent solution," stared Amy. "But when I found out about you conquering the will of the symbiote, I realized that a temporary solution might be most effective. I developed a mixer of neurosupressants keyed to the unique mutated elements of your biology that is allowing the symbiote to directly communicate with the brain. Eventually it will adapt, but the process will be slow, and hopefully give you enough time to teach you brothers to do whatever it was that you did."

"Yes," nodded Shego. "I understand the... thing better now, I can defiantly help them." She paused. "How did you test your little formula anyway? The whole reason I was suck in GeneNominal was because they needed a guinea pig."

"Ah--heh," started Amy. "Well, you know me! Once I have a DNA sample I'm never far from some test subjects."

Shego clenched her teeth together. "You didn't!"

"I think I've gotta run," DNAmy announced. "All sorts of cleaning to do here! Ta ta!"

"AMY!" yelled Shego but the phone was already dead.

Kim put a hand on her lover's shoulder. "We'll take care of it once we're healed."

Shego nodded reluctantly.

"Kim?" asked Wade Load in the silence. "Now that you're satisfied that Shego is okay, are you ready to talk to us?"

"You mean you guys aren't here to see me? I'm hurt," pouted Shego in a mocking manner.

"Shego," warned Kim, sitting beside her on the bed. She took Shego's hand and held it. "Yes, Wade, now is fine."

Wade turned to Betty. "Director?" He motioned for her to continue.

In return Dr. Director just looked awkwardly between Kim, Shego, and their hands, delicately intertwined. After a moment, she closed her eye and sighed.

"No," she said.

"What?" asked Wade.

"I mean," started Betty. "It's not a good time after all, I need to ... reassess the information. It's possible we can handle it ourselves." With a nod to herself, she turned and started to head for the doorway out of the room.

"Wait, Director!" called Kim.

"Director, what about all that talk doing things right this time?" asked Wade.

Seemingly oblivious to the other people's calls in the room, Betty continued towards the door, her movement a little stiff. When she went for the doorknob, however, the door opened on its own. She looked up to come face-to-face with Commander Ferris standing next to...

Herself.

"What the--" started Betty, before the 'second' Betty Director standing next to Ferris locked her eyes on her and swung. The strike was loud and the Director flew to the side and struck the adjacent wall to the door. She crumpled to a heap on the floor.

"Betty! What are--" started Ferris but a swift kick to the gut sent him flying back into the hall and the still-standing-Director closed the door shut behind him.

In the mere seconds it took for the two GJ officers to be incapacitated, Beth Corelia had scrambled to the other side of Shego bed, putting herself behind Kim and the patient. Kim, in turn, dropped her sling and held her hands out in first position, ready for an attack.

"Shego, stay out of the way-- hey!" Kim said then stumbled a bit as Shego slipped off the bed and pushed Kim behind her.

"Get back," warned Shego as she faced the Betty Director that was slowly stalking towards them. She pushed her back against Kim and Beth, forcing them into the corner between the exterior wall and the bed.

"Shego," hissed Kim, trying to move beside her. "You're in no shape for this."

"I heal fast," said Shego over her shoulder.

There wasn't time for any other comments as the Director lunged at them. Shego stepped forward to grapple with her but was surprisingly pushed to the floor by the much stronger woman. Using her new position to her advantage, Shego quickly picked her feet up and kicked the Director off to the other side of the room. As Kim helped Shego up, she noticed the 'evil' Director had easily landed on her feet.

Wade ran over to the Betty Director he came in with while the 'evil' one was distracted. As he quickly nudged her, she sluggishly started to come around.

Meanwhile, Kim kept her hand on Shego's shoulder while the latter rubbed her shoulder. She'd hit the ground hard under the attacking Director and begrudgingly admitted to herself she wasn't as healed as she thought she was.

"Who are you?" demanded Kim, frowning. "Some clone?"

The attacking Director laughed. "I am an Angel of Vengeance," she announced, glaring sinisterly at Kim. She ran forward and began a flurry of blows at Shego.

The weakened thief was able to block most of the attacks but as she started to sweat she was letting more and more of them though. She could feel her ribs and arms ache from being hit and wasn't sure how much the painkillers she was on was dulling the pain. She could be much worse off than she felt.

The attacking Director made a sweeping kick and a follow up jab that triggered a memory in Shego. One she wasn't particularly eager to recall but useful nonetheless.

"She's got your moves, Kimmie!" said Shego, adjusting her stance. She knew Kim's fighting style well enough, and knew, in her current state, there's no way she'd win alone. "Who the hell is this person!?"

Kim took the hint and slid alongside Shego, pressing herself to the wall, until she was close enough that the attacking Director threw a punch at her. Favoring her shoulder, Kim spun and blocked the strike which gave Shego the opening to sweep the attacking Director's legs. She went down hard but was already scrambling to stand again when Shego followed up with a kick to her chest, sending her sliding a few feet.

Shego breathed deeply, fatigued. "Kim..." she started.

Kim, looking a little worn herself, nodded. "I know, Shego."

The attacker stood back up again, apparently unfazed by the two good hits she took. Changing her stance, she stared coolly at her opponents.

Kim pushed herself in front of Shego successfully this time while the latter took another breath and returned to her defensive position.

The attacker grinned microseconds before launching herself forward. Her speed was several times faster than before and Kim could barely see her before she was standing right in front of her, kicking her leg forward. Kim twisted to block but misjudged the kick's target and missed entirely. The attacker's kick snapped behind Kim and knocked the wind right out of Shego.

Hitting the ground hard, Shego saw stars as she tried to catch her breath again. Heaving on the floor, she turned her strained eyes upwards. The Director was holding Kim up by her neck, the latter flailing wildly for breath as her enemy just stared coldly up at her.

"Kim!" Shego tried to scream but felt no air coming to her lips. A loud bang caught her attention as she turned her head to see the door to the room kicked open and the large man who had arrived with this Betty holding up a pistol, ready to fire but hesitating as he saw Kim so close to the attacker. Shego tried again to draw air back into her lungs.

And felt the cool rush of air down her throat then the burning feeling immediately behind it. Looking back to Kim she saw her lover start to slow her struggles. With no time to spare Shego just stuck out her hand and prayed she didn't roast the only person in the room she cared about.

Her fist burst into green flames, as it usually did, then, to Shego's surprise, the flames lengthened then twisted together weaving in an intricate pattern until it formed a tall lance burning from the top of her fist. A moment later, it was arcing forward, away from Shego, and slammed right into the torso of the attacking Director, spearing her.

The woman froze then convulsed once, dropping Kim to the floor. Wasting no time with a clear shot, Commander Ferris fired twice at her, landing one bullet directly on the small of the attacker's spine and one in the back of her head. She sputtered once then collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.

The world slowed. Shego felt each breath coat her lungs in quicksilver as she reeled from her world of reactions back to conscious thought. The attacking Director's skin seemed to slag for a moment before shimmering and then vanishing altogether, leaving a silvered sheen beneath and strong metal hydraulics where once smooth arm skin had resided. A robot, Shego's mind finally registered.

"A PossiBot?" the real Dr. Director said, being helped up by Wade and Commander Ferris.

"No," said Wade, shaking his head. "It's a K-11."

"K-11?" asked Ferris.

"It's the successor PossiBot series I've been working on," explained Wade. "A PossiBot 2.0, if you will. It looks like it had a Luminocodec attached to it."

Dr. Director immediately turned on Wade. "What?" she shouted. "You've been working on a new PossiBot? After what happened the first time? Are you crazy?"

Wade's eyes went wide and he stepped back from the seething Director. "B-but, wait!"

"You know what a shame to GJ those things were, and you still couldn't turn away?" Betty waved her finger at the shorter agent. "I thought everyone understood my position on this."

"You TOLD me to make them!" yelled Wade.

"I'd never--" started Dr. Director but Wade cut her off.

"You came to me, four months ago and told me to try and improve them," Wade explained. "You said that they were genuine technology regardless of what they were used for and we would be foolish to ignore potential benefits because of sentimentality. I even disagreed with you!"

Dr. Director blinked and paused her advance on Wade. "I never said that," she said simply.

"You did," insisted Wade.

Betty turned the words over in her mind and felt echoes from the past overcome her.

"Allucinere," she said. "Four months ago?" She put her hand to her forehead. "Tell me that was a prototype, Mr. Load."

Wade shook his head solemnly. "I finalized the design a short while ago," he said. "There are over a dozen K-11's back at GJ."

"I'm willing to bet," interrupted Ferris. "That there aren't anymore."

Betty turned to face the commander. "Get back to headquarters and tell everyone to restart the search. If you can't pick up, shake, throw, or otherwise use a piece of equipment, assume it's an illusion. I need to know what's missing and what Maya Tromper has been doing for the last four months while we thought she was in a coma."

"Yes, Ma'am--"

"Kim?" a raspy voice said urgently. "Kimmie!"

Dr. Director, Wade, and Ferris turned to see Shego over Kim's body with Beth at her side. Shego's hands were on Kim's shoulders as she shook the still redheaded figure gently.

"Kim!" Shego yelled again. "Wake up, Princess!"

Dr. Director looked to Ferris who nodded and quickly ran out of the room.

"Shego," said Beth, trying to pull back on the dark haired woman. "I'm sure she's alright, let's just get a doctor."

"Then why isn't she waking up?" asked Shego, never taking her eyes off Kim's face. "She's breathing, she has a fucking pulse! She couldn't be taken down that easily!"

"Shego..." said Beth.

"No, no, no, no," repeated Shego as her shaking got more violent.

"KIIIIIIIIM!"

---END OF PART III: "STRESS FRACTURE"---

AFTERWORD: I really need to change the naming structure I established for this series. By splitting up 'Part Three' into 3 parts, I essentially made it impossible for myself to refer to any segment of the story without confusion. Ah well, live and learn.

It may seem kinda lousy to end this chapter like this, but it's pretty essential to what I'm doing in the final part of this series so I hope you can forgive me. While this 'part' moved the current plot along significantly, the final part will explain the history between Kim and Global Justice that I've been making references to since 'Fling.' You may even have a good idea of what happened already, but I'll lay it out nice and plain so everyone understands. ;)

Finally, as much as I hate to reveal the 'trick' when writing, as it does kinda eliminate some of the magic of process, this chapter was intended to resolve the dream-sequence that Kim had (and subsequently forgot) during Part Two: "Reciprocity." The youngest Kim in that sequence said something to the effect of that Kimmie had to begin to understand her love for Shego if she ever hoped to help her. In this chapter, the key to Shego overcoming her loss of control to the Symbiote was her perception of Kim's unequivocal love towards her which gave her the strength to overcome her fears. It was subtle, but, well, I wanted to explain it in case any one was wondering.

Thanks again for reading! See you in the Finale!


	7. Silent Night, Teaser, 0 of 9

TEASER

* * *

'Twas the week before Christmas, when all through the lair

Not a creature was stirring, not even a bear.

The death rays were parked by the doorway with care,

In the hope that some young hero soon would be there.

Dr. Drakken was nestled all snug in his bed,

While visions of doomsday danced in his head.

Now that Shego in her catsuit were far off and away,

Her once private room was empty this day.

When down from the lab there arose such a clatter,

Drakken sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the stairs he flew like a flash,

Then stumbled down to the landing having tripped on some trash.

The moon off the tile in his newly floored lab

Gave luster to objects once thought to be drab.

And among the small gadgets that had since gone kaput,

Stood a red-headed girl, in a silver-white suit.

With a flick of her hair, she looked of trouble,

He knew in a moment it must be Kim Possible!

More rapid than eagles her hands they did snatch,

A large caliber gun with a laser sight attached!

"Now Kim, just a second!" Dr. Drakken did plea,

"Aside from the usual, what sent you after me?"

With nothing to lose and shaking with fear,

He got on his knees and begged at her footgear.

With a laugh too strange to belong to the hero,

Drakken looked up once again at his cackling foe.

"As spineless as I thought," she dismissed without fuss.

"Get up off your knees, I have a deal to discuss."

"Who the hell are you?" demanded Drakken this time

And slapped his long gown, to dislodge all the grime.

In the pale moonlight, he looked closer at her

And noticed the features were different, more mousier.

"My name is Allucinere," the woman said simply,

"We share a young enemy that frustrates me greatly."

"But I have a plan to turn her world upside-down,"

"What I need is a weakness of her green-suited clown."

"Shego?" smiled Drakken, a little bemused,

"I have just the thing I've been waiting to use."

He rummaged through a pile of scattered old toys,

And produced a small gun only big enough for a boy.

"This will render her almost your slave,"

"Now lets talk about payment, I want a fair trade."

Dr. Drakken smiled his widest goofy grin,

As the woman before him offered a box made of tin

Without a thought, he opened the cube laid before him

And screamed when the device attached to his limb

In seconds it crawled up to affix to his eyes

Then nothing but whimpers, and a few quiet cries.

With a look more sinister than she'd given before,

The woman named Allucinere left out the door.

She'd palmed the small gun from the drooling doctor,

And set out to get revenge on her red-headed jailor.

With a snap of her fingers, her PossiBots did appear,

And carried her off towards their base while she sneered.

"Sleep now, Kim Possible, all safe in your bed,

Just wait until Christmas: you'll wish you were dead!"

* * *

Disney's Kim Possible in

**SILENT NIGHT**

The final chapter in

'A Period of Silence'

By Adam Leigh

* * *


	8. Silent Night, Prologue,  1 of 9

----------------

_Disney's_ Kim Possible in

**A Period of Silence: **

**SILENT NIGHT**

By Adam Leigh

Prologue

----------------

**THREE YEARS AGO**

Kim Possible stood in the integrated technologies lab at Global Justice headquarters and stared intently at her double. The appearance of her robotic clone was perfect, enough to fool even her closest friends, but the mind behind the shell was the real issue. The slim form could be swapped for Kim in any photograph, but as soon as it opened its mouth the differences became clear. Looking like Kim turned out to be the easy task. Training the drone to act exactly like Kim had always ended in failure. Thus, it was with completely appropriate skepticism that Kim listened to GJ's claims that this new android would soon be an easy swap.

"What is it called?" asked Kim, frowning at the stoic mirror that was the android.

Wade Load, Kim's portly and formerly primary hook-up for gear and technology, tugged at his new GJ uniform and stepped over to the pedestal that both Possibles stood on. "It's model is Delta-K-6," he said enthusiastically. "But we generally call them PossiBots."

"Them?" asked Kim with an arched brow.

"Well, it's the sixth iteration of the 'K' series of androids," Wade explained. "So there have been five other droids like her, including the one I showed you years ago."

"The one that couldn't even do math," reminded Kim.

"Yes, well," Wade rubbed the back of his neck. "I didn't exactly build it to be able to do Ron's geometry homework."

"I did get my highest score all year on that assignment," said Ron, coming up behind Kim. "Well, not counting the papers Rufus did for me when he was in 'genius' mode." Ron paused and thought for a moment. "Hey, speaking of, what happened to all those super-awesome formulas Rufus came up with?"

"Mostly they were discarded when it was discovered they were drafted by a rodent," came the voice of Dr Betty Director as she strode into the lab from a corridor. She was flanked by a few agents dressed in lab coats. "Discretely, we acquired the remaining work and have been trying to decipher them ever since." She looked briefly to the tall, elderly agent to her right. "My best scientists tell me they were written with non-Euclidean math, so it's taken them some time to figure out which one with which to interpret the equations."

The elderly man beside Betty piped up. "I still say Riemannian is the key!"

Betty glanced aside. "Doctor Flakman disproved that months ago," she said, then looked back to Ron. "But regardless, we've retained most copies of the formulae, and will make sure Rufus gets credit should any practical technologies be developed from them."

"Hey, you hear that buddy!" said Ron, looking down. The leg pocket in his cargo pants undulated then the flap popped up as a pink, hairless, rat stuck his head up and gibbered intelligibly. "You might be world famous someday!" cheered Ron.

Rufus gave a shocked expression then gave a thumbs up to Betty to assert his thanks.

"You're welcome, Rufus," nodded Betty. "Kim, I'd like you to meet the genius that will be working with Wade to fix the personality problems the PossiBots have had in the past." Dr. Director motioned to the young, thin, chestnut haired and green eyed woman in a white lab coat to her right. "Dr. Maya Tromper."

The woman blushed slightly and bashfully moved forward to greet Kim, weakly holding out her delicate hand. Kim, in turn, gently took the hand and shook it with a smile. "Nice to meet you," she said cordially. "I've heard you can give Wade a run for his money."

"Well..." Maya started nervously then trailed off.

"Ahem," interrupted Wade. "She _is_ quite brilliant, but we work in different fields, Kim. To compare our work would be like comparing apples to subatomic microprocessors."

Kim laughed and winked at Maya. "Riiiight."

Wade just rolled his eyes. Ron walked up and held out his own hand to Maya. "Hey there! I'm Ron Stoppable, know around these parts as 'The Ron Factor.' I'm sure you've heard of me."

Maya looked strangely at his hand for a second then up at Ron's face. "I read the reports on you," she said. Ron brightened. "I disagreed with the findings."

"Er, why's that?" asked Ron.

"They were based on a faulty assumption," Maya motioned with her finger. "That Kim's crime fighting success was increased by your participation, rather than diminished. I recalculated the original data based on the latter, and it accurately predicted the result of the 'Ron Factor' program."

"Um..." Ron looked thoughtful. "You mean I --"

"Tend to make success harder for Kim, not easier," finished Maya.

"Oh," deflated Ron.

Kim looked nervous as she stepped in next to Ron. "Surely you don't mean all the time, though," offered Kim. "Ron's been a big help to me many times!"

"Well, I guess you're right," Maya said, smiling and blushing. "Maybe the data we had was incomplete."

"There you go," said Kim. Then she nudged the depressed Stoppable. "See, it's not all bad."

"Yeah," said Ron, dully. "I noticed there isn't any StoppaBots around, though."

"Not everyone is easy to replicate, Ron," said Kim, taking Ron's hand. "What would make people special if they were?"

Ron looked at Kim's hand and brightened just a bit. "All right," he nodded.

Kim looked back at the rest of the occupants of the room. "So, you think this version of the ... uh, 'PossiBot' is going to be able to handle all the trouble that comes up while I'm at college?"

Wade nodded. "The body will easily be able to handle the stress. In fact, it should be stronger and faster than a human could ever be. I've just always had trouble writing an AI that could operate it effectively and convincingly. Maya, however, has made some incredibly brilliant IC's that have already fooled several people on the base into thinking you were here."

"ICs?" asked Kim. She wracked her brain for an interpretation. "Integrated Circuits?"

Maya swallowed and spoke up. "Intellectual Constructs. They're like AI's but they're locked into a single personality. They can't grow beyond their settings, but they also don't have to be trained, they immediately know how to operate their equipment and interact with people." She smiled weakly. "I've been working on ICs for a long time and... coincidentally, their personalities were based on you."

"Me?" asked Kim. "What for?"

"Um," Maya looked away for a second. "GJ has large amount of data on you, it was an easy to build a matrix based on your file."

"I suppose that makes sense," said Kim shrugging. "I still don't know, though. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with a machine pretending to be me. It would be better if I just took the website down."

"Kim," Betty said, casually walking towards the PossiBot. "You may not be aware of this, but your actions have had an incredible effect on the criminal world."

"They have?" asked Kim in bewilderment.

"Indeed," Betty nodded. "Your incredible success rate, coupled with the ease of getting your help without cost, has reduced the global crime rate by at least one or two percent on average. That may not sound like much, but it is. The failures of Drakken, Senior Senior Senior, Dementor, Monkey Fist and the others have sent a message to the world."

Betty walked around the pedestal that the PossiBot stood on. "As an espionage agency, GJ has been forced to keep a practically non-existent public identity, which means while we may be able to respond to existing threats, as a deterrent we're not very effective. You, on the other hand, have a name so public nearly everyone in the world has heard it once. And that's powerful, Kim. So powerful that it convinces those who might commit crimes to think twice."

Betty stood next to the PossiBot and stared at Kim. "What do you think would happen if people suddenly realized that Kim Possible was no longer there to answer the pleas of the helpless?"

Kim bit her lip and furrowed her brow. "Then I should be out there."

"And give up school?" asked Betty.

"What choice do I have when you paint a picture like that?!" argued Kim. "How can I trust this..." she gestured at the android, "thing, when so much is riding on my name?"

"Kim..." started Wade.

"I'm sorry, Wade," Kim said immediately. "I don't mean to insult your work, but it's not ready, you said it yourself. What happens in the meantime? What if it never becomes ready?"

"Kim, I would never force you into something you didn't want to do," said Betty.

Kim looked surprised at Dr. Director. "Then what are you doing _right now_?"

"I'm telling you that a lot rides on your name and image," replied Betty. She moved away from the clone to stand before the original. "And despite that, I'm still telling you that you can go to college and leave things to us. Because I believe that the PossiBot project will be successful."

"You were sure about the 'Ron Factor' too," grumbled Kim.

"Kim?" said Maya weakly, raising her head. Her speech was wobbly at first, but slowly grew strength. "I... I'm -- I really admire you. I think what you do and... your strength, both physically and socially is amazing. That's why all my ICs are based on you, because ... because you're exactly the type of person I'd want my constructs to be."

Maya swallowed. "I would never -- _never­_ do anything to shame you. When the PossiBot is done, it will be everything you are, as close to you as I can possibly make it." She was blushing furiously by now. "So, please... don't worry."

Kim stared at Maya with a blank expression for several moments until Ron moved closer to them and put his hand on the hero's shoulder. "Can't argue with that," he lightly said. "Can you?"

Kim sighed and formed a half-smile. "All right," she said, looking over to Dr. Director. "Since everyone seems to believe in this, I'll give the robot a chance." Maya smiled in relief, though her blush stayed in full force.

"If there's any trouble though," continued Kim. "Don't hesitate to call me, beep me, whatever it takes to reach me. I'll never be too busy for this. I am letting you use my name, after all."

"You can trust us, Kim," said Wade.


	9. Silent Night, December 18th, 2 of 9

----------------

_Disney's_ Kim Possible in

**A Period of Silence: **

**SILENT NIGHT**

By Adam Leigh

Day 1

----------------

**DECEMBER 18TH **

Thin lines and sterile white contrasted sharply with the rough and dark colors the people were wearing as they swept past. The winter chill had set in as the days stretched towards Christmas and everyone had bundled up to keep out the cold. Kim watched the streaks of auburn and orange and thought about the upcoming holidays. She had expected a series of awkward moments to occur there this year, but she had not expected them to start so early.

"I can really walk myself," said Kim.

"They all say that," murmured the nurse pushing Kim's wheelchair.

They were moving slowly through the hospital with Shego close beside, holding Kim's winter coat. The lobby of the Middleton Mercy Medical Center was vast and featured not one but two pieces of sculpted art from local celebrities, neither of which was particularly good looking, but still attracted crowds of people which made it nearly impossible to move a wheelchair through easily.

"What's that?" asked Kim, turning her head up to look at nurse.

She sighed, slightly and repeated louder. "They all say that. Look, I'm sure you can do cartwheels and back flips too but its hospital policy that you have to wait until you leave the hospital to try."

"Actually, she _can_ do cartwheels and back flips," commented Shego with a smile. "And quite a bit more, really."

"Long day?" asked Kim to the nurse.

"It's flu season," she said dryly. "It's been a month of long days."

"Sorry to hear that," shrugged Kim.

"Hah, you should try out one of our days," said Shego. "She's dislocated her knee, been shot twice, and strangled to unconsciousness in the last couple weeks." She ticked each injury off on her hand. "While I've... well, I've had it bad too. Though neither of us got the flu, so maybe that's worse somehow."

"Shego!" Kim softly, but urgently warned.

The nurse just shook her head and pushed through the crowd. "Kids these days," she murmured.

Once outside the hospital Kim lightly punched Shego in the arm after she helped her with her coat.

"Hey!" yelped Shego, while rubbing her arm in mock pain. "What?"

"You didn't have to give her a hard time," said Kim, putting her hands in her pockets and heading towards the parking lot.

"Well, she didn't have to be all snippy just 'cause she works in a hospital and there happen to be sick people there." Shego laughed as she moved to walk close to Kim and started glowing slightly. "If's a big deal I'll go back and apologize."

"Apologiz--?" Kim started the stopped. "Ooh," she purred and pushed herself slightly against Shego as they walked. "You're warm."

"Convenient, huh?" smiled Shego. "Don't even need winter clothes anymore." She bowed her head slightly to speak into Kim's ear. "Or any clothes at all, if you're interested."

Kim looked at Shego with her eyes wide but a smile on her lips. The green woman just laughed in return. "It's the benefits of having a completely tamed symbiote. I can control my power like never before. I never realized that I'd been struggling to keep control until I didn't have to anymore."

"Well, don't get carried away, Sheeg," said Kim.

"Only if you want me to, lover," grinned Shego.

Kim blinked as Shego gently grabbed her arm and hooked it around her own. She was practically skipping as they headed towards her car.

"You're really... freaking me out," said Kim after a moment.

"Hmm? How's that?" asked Shego.

"I've never seen you so ... cheerful before, it's weird." Kim shrugged.

"I can't be happy?"

"Of course you -- Shego, I _want_ you to be happy."

Shego stepped in front of Kim and walked backwards, her arms behind her back, weaving side to side between cars. "Then I don't see what the problem is."

Kim closed the distance between them and put her hand kindly on Shego's arm. "I don't want you to force yourself just for my sake."

Shego slowed her walk and looked into Kim's eyes and the latter saw some of the manic glee vanish in her expression. After a second she turned and picked up her pace again.

"Who says it's just for your sake?" asked Shego, sounding inquisitive. Kim moved up and put an arm around her girlfriend. Shego looked at her seriously. "I really am feeling unusually happy," she offered.

"Okay," nodded Kim. "Just ... no acts, all right? If there's anything we've proven in the last month it's that we're particularly good at hurting each other unintentionally."

Shego looked down and softly agreed. "I wish that wasn't so true." She turned her head up again. "No acts from you either, Ms. Save-The-World. And don't even try and say that this Allucinere business doesn't have you scared. I may not know a damn thing about this woman but I can read between the lines." She looked directly into Kim's eyes. "She hurt you."

Kim's mouth thinned to a line. "Yeah, something like that."

Shego smiled again and snaked a arm around Kim's waist, ushering her towards the passenger side of her silver car. "But last time, you didn't have me watching your back. If she tries anything, I'll roast her." She froze. "I mean, not entirely, just enough to turn her away, you know? Maybe some third degree burns _at the most_."

Kim smiled slightly. "I get it, Sheeg." She squeezed Shego's arm. "Thanks."

Shego nodded and opened the door for her. Instead of getting in, though, Kim put her hand on top of the hand Shego was using to hold open the car door. "But," she started, moving her face close to Shego's. "You have to understand, I have some expectations in this relationship."

"Is that so?" asked Shego, unmoving.

"Oh, yes," agreed Kim, moving even closer. "I expect that you'll respond to me in ... certain ways."

"Certain ways?" repeated Shego, her mouth slightly open as she stared into Kim's half-lidded eyes.

"Yes." Their faces were so close her lips were almost brushing against Shego's. "And if you won't stop acting overly chivalrous and show me that rough, bold, sometimes annoying, but entirely sexy Shego I fell in love with, I may have to force it out of you."

Shego started to nod, lost in Kim's eyes before suddenly stopped and frowning. "What?"

Kim stepped suddenly away and waved her hand before Shego's face. A set of keys rattled hanging from her fingertip. "I'll drive," she said with a wink and jumped over to the driver's side of the car.

Shego blinked and looked down at her hand, the one that was holding her keys moments ago but now was only holding her car door open. Her head snapped back up to see Kim already sitting behind the wheel. "No way!" exclaimed Shego.

"Yes, way," said Kim shutting the door and starting the car.

"This is my car," said Shego, sticking her head in the car at the passenger's side. "And you've done enough damage to it."

"Hey!" said Kim. "What's this all about? You don't trust my driving?"

"I don't have to trust it," said Shego leaning in. "I have all the scars on the undercarriage and the damaged suspension to provide me with more than a good idea of what your driving is like."

"You're making that up," pouted Kim. "Besides, I had other things on my mind, such as saving your sorry green_ ass_ from being dissected." Kim put her hands on the wheel. "If you don't want to walk..."

Shego scowled and plopped down in the passenger's seat and closed the door. She folded her arms. "Hmph. You love my sorry green ass and I know it." She looked out the window. "You'll be lucky if I don't take it elsewhere."

Strong hands suddenly slid around Shego's shoulders and jerked her to the side where a grinning red-head pulled her into a deep kiss. Shego immediately wrapped her arms around the startling beauty and pulled her onto her lap where they continued their dance of tongues.

Several minutes later, their mouths finally parted and Kim rested her forehead on the green woman's one and looked lazily into her eyes.

"There she is," she sighed happily.

---( KP )---

Even the euphoria of their make-out session in the car couldn't battle the sheer dread Kim felt as they reached their destination. Shego had brought her knee up to her chest and casually had her arm hanging on it as she peered at the retro-looking house out the window of the car. They had stopped in front of the familiar home a couple moments ago but she figured she'd let Kim gather her thoughts before trying to rush anything. She glanced back at the red-head when she heard muttering.

Kim had her eyes closed and her head down as her lips moved quickly. Shego leaned quietly in to make out the words.

"I don't care what people think. I don't care what people think. I don't care what people think."

Shego blinked. This was... unexpected.

"No acts, right?" asked Shego.

Kim stopped her mantra and looked up guiltily. "Right," she deflated.

"So fess up."

Kim laughed nervously. "For a girl that could do anything, I'm feeling pretty nervous about telling my parents I like girls."

"They know already," said Shego. "This is more damage control than revelatory."

"Well, yes," nodded Kim. "But that's worse. They didn't even find out because I told them, they got it through six degrees of separation."

"Only two. Me to Timothy, Timothy to your parents."

"Stop correcting me!" yelled Kim.

Shego closed her mouth but kept looking back at her.

Several moments passed before Kim looked back up at Shego. "You're not even going to get angry at me for snapping at you, are you?"

Shego shrugged. "This is your thing, Princess. It's not a big deal to me but that's me and you'll never have to meet my parents. But I'm here if you need me. I won't make it tougher for you."

Kim smiled weakly. "That means a lot to me. I'm sorry for making you do this, I know it's one of the things you really dreaded when we first got involved."

"Well, things were different then," said Shego simply. "So, you ready to do this or do you wanna run? I know a lot of places to hide in Middleton."

Kim laughed. "All right, let's give this a try."

Hesitantly, Kim reached for the door, swallowed, then exited the car and headed for the front door of her childhood home. Shego stayed close enough by to be supportive but not so close as they were in the parking lot. The gentle breeze sent nervous shivers down Kim's back and almost wished she could wrap herself in Shego's warm arms.

When they reached the front door, it opened on its own.

Without a word, Kim found herself being embraced.

"Hi ... mom," she said hesitantly.

The arms simply wrapped more around her in response. "Oh, sweetie! I'm so proud of you."

"Um, okay." Kim looked awkwardly around. "You weren't like this at the hospital."

Ms. Dr. Possible finally let go of her daughter enough to look at her but kept a supportive hand on her shoulder. "I didn't want to embarrass you. I'm happy for you though." She spared a second's glance at Shego as well. "Both of you. Standing up for who you are even if it goes against society."

"Well, that kinda describes my whole life up until now," said Shego nervously.

"Me too, actually," mumbled Kim. Then louder she said, "Can we come in?"

"Of course," replied her mother, stepping aside and allowing the two girls to walk in.

Once inside, Shego turned to Ms. Possible and held out a hand casually. "We've met bunch of times before, back in the day, but we might as well do this properly once."

Ms. Dr. Possible looked surprised at the hand for a moment then took it gently. "Judy Possible," she said with a smile.

"Lily Kedar," Shego returned in kind, catching the confusion in Ms. Dr. Possible's eyes. "But you can still call me Shego if you want, Kimmie does."

"It's a pleasure," said Judy. "And you have a beautiful name, Lily." Shego thanked her and she turned towards the kitchen. "Let me see if I can find your father, Kimmie."

Once she was gone Kim and Shego looked at each other.

"That was odd," said Kim.

"Hey, don't look a gift horse in the mouth," shrugged Shego. "I do find it terribly funny though that you've gone up against the likes of me on behalf of 'justice' countless times but she's proud of you for being gay."

"I think this whole thing has got everyone off guard," said Kim. "Not just with you and me, but with Allucinere out there and the Tweebs getting along again. Everything is out of sorts."

Shego moved up to Kim and put her arm around her. "Well, might as well take advantage of it."

---( KP )---

As it turned out, Judy was the easy one.

"What have I told you about Circus folk?" asked Dr. James Possible when he finally surfaced with Judy and they all sat in the living room.

"She's not even _wearing_ her uniform right now," said Kim, exasperated.

Judy patted James' hand. "Now, now, dear, don't kid them."

"I'm just trying to establish some ground rules," explained James.

"She's _not_ in the circus," stressed Kim.

"I never thought I'd have to reconsider my 'no boys rule' for this reason," mused Dr. Possible.

"Dad!"

Appearing from... pretty much out of nowhere, a thin boy with a slight goatee entered the living room. "Hey Shego," he said, waving. "Nice to see you outside of a hospital."

"Hi Jim," nodded Shego. "Trust me, I've had enough of them for a lifetime." She glanced towards Ms. Dr. Possible. "No offense, Judy."

"None taken," smiled Judy.

"So now that you're with sis," started Jim with a sly smile on his face. "Are you going to corrupt her and go on a wild crime spree?"

"Jim!" snapped Kim.

"How do you know we're not on one right now?" asked Shego mysteriously.

"Shego..."

"Is this true, KimmieCub?" asked Dr. Possible. "I don't approve of criminal partnerships within the family."

"_No_, it's not true, Dad," Kim quickly said.

"She doesn't cover very well," commented Jim.

"I'm working on her," nodded Shego.

"The two of you..." started Kim.

"How long have you been seeing my daughter, Shego?" asked Dr. Possible.

"Since high school, of course," said Shego.

Kim put a hand to her forehead. "That's not what he meant, Shego."

"Since High School?" asked James. "Were you two-timing Ronald, then?"

"She was," nodded Shego seriously.

"No. I wasn't," stressed Kim, looking between her father and Shego with looks of annoyance.

"Does this mean I can have that harem I waned at school?" asked Jim. "You know the chicks go crazy about me."

"I know I tell you kids anything's possible for a Possible," said Dr. Possible. "But I meant it within strict moral guidelines."

"I wasn't two-timing anyone!" yelled Kim, exasperated.

Everyone looked at Kim expectantly after her outburst.

Then Timothy walked in.

"Is Kim two-timing you with another girl?" he asked innocently.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" Kim ran screaming from the room.

---( KP )---

Kim sat in her bed with her arms crossed, propped up on several pillows and looking, generally, angry. She had spent the better part of the evening here after the dreadful introductions and then even more awkward dinner where everyone seemed to act like nothing had happened only an hour before hand. Kim wasn't sure if she was annoyed or glad that Shego had decided to talk more with her parents after she decided to retreat to the safety of her bedroom. A worried part of her said it was the latter.

The nearly silent padding of bare feet up the stairs told Kim that Shego was finally ascending, and fairly loudly for her. Kim knew from experience that she could be absolutely silent if she wanted and it was clear she was giving warning.

Moments later she popped into view and walked up to the foot of Kim's bed. She pirouetted once with her arms out and looked at Kim with a smile. "So, what do you think?"

Shego was dressed in a black tank-top and was wearing green plaid boxer pants. Her hair had been tied up in a ponytail behind her and had a generally ruffled look that made her look incredibly sex-- no. Kim scolded herself silently. She was angry right now. She had to stay on topic and ignore all those flashes of skin and raw appeal.

For now, anyway.

"Took you long enough," said Kim, turning her head.

"Well, I was having a great talk with your parents," said Shego, dropping her hands and starting to walk around the room. "They seem to think you've been operating a brothel at University now, it's quite amusing."

Kim snapped her head back to look at Shego with wild eyes. Shego was looking back over her shoulder at Kim with a sly grin. Kim realized she was joking and just shook her head.

"What happened to 'I won't make it tougher for you'?" said Kim in a boorish Shego impression.

"That was before I realized how much fun it would be," shrugged Shego as she looked at a series of pictures on the dresser. She noticed there were lots of pictures of Kim with Ron and Kim with Wade, but all the ones with Wade had the computer geek peering out from a computer screen. Shego'd seen Wade herself several times now, it was strange that Kim had no pictures of the boy in-the-flesh, so to speak.

"Are you trying to make me regret bringing you here?" asked Kim, tiredly.

Shego turned and leaned against the dresser. "Not at all," she said in a straightforward manner. "Nothing I've done has made things harder for you here. You're doing all that on your own."

Kim dropped her jaw in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding!" she said, her voice taking on a hard edge. "'No fault here, you make your own life tougher?' Is that _really_ the position you're taking with me?"

Shego sighed and moved towards the bed.

"Oh, no," Kim waved her off. "For all your help today you sleep on the floor."

Shego continued to move to edge of the bed but kneeled beside it to look evenly at Kim. "Princess, how smart is your father?"

"He's incredibly smart," started Kim, seeing where she was going with this. "But terribly naïve sometimes."

"Naïve as he may be about his daughter," admitted Shego. "Do you really think after all the times Drakken and I ran into him while stealing, and the times you and I fought in front of him, that he really thinks I'm part of a circus?"

Kim frowned. "It's... possible."

"What about your mother?"

"What _about_ her?"

"Don't you think after all the love she showed you at the door she would have stepped in and corrected your father if he really had a misconception about you?" Shego looked at Kim plainly.

"Maybe..." she replied, quietly.

"Kim," Shego put her hand on Kim's lap. "I can't make things tougher for you here. I saw it all clearly as soon as we walked in the door."

"What?" asked Kim.

"They _love_ you," Shego smiled. "Unquestionably." Her smile tempered slightly. "Trust me, I've seen parents that don't."

The red-head looked down and sighed. "You're saying I shouldn't be stressing out over this."

"No, not really." Shego shook her head.

Kim laughed half-heartily. "Who would have thought you would be the understanding one?"

Shego looked surprised but smiled. "Hey, I'm perceptive." She caressed Kim's face once then stepped back and laid on her back on the floor.

Kim looked over the edge of the bed. "What are you doing?"

"Sleeping on the floor," said Shego.

"Come on," waved Kim. "You don't have to sleep down there."

"Nah," Shego shook her head. "I did know all that downstairs was fraying your already decaying nerves and just laughed anyway. I do have some guilt there."

"I don't care anymore," pleaded Kim. "Get up here."

"Nope." Shego pointed towards her chest. "I'm 'Good Shego' now. And Good Shego accepts punishment for her crimes."

Kim rolled her eyes. "Fine," she said, then threw a couple pillows at Shego's head.

Shego laughed and pulled the pillow away from her face. As she was stuffing them under her head she saw Kim get out of the bed and start pulling on the comforter. "What are you doing?"

Kim succeeded in freeing the large blanket then pulled it down over Shego before slipping beneath and cuddling up to the green woman. "Just because you're enduring punishment doesn't mean I should have to," said Kim, putting her head on Shego's shoulder. She wrapped her arms around the former thief.

Shego put her arm around her princess and softly stroked her hair. "Hey, you don't really have to do this," she said quietly. "You're still recuperating. I'll come up to the bed."

"It's okay," Kim said, nuzzling against Shego with her eyes closed. "Some things are better when they're uncomfortable."

Shego looked at her with her mouth slightly open then felt something lodge in her throat. She pulled Kim closer around her and held on tight, fighting back the tightness in her chest.

"I'm just like them, you know," Shego said. "Unquestionably."

Kim nodded slowly. "I know."


	10. Silent Night, December 19th, 3 of 9

----------------

_Disney's_ Kim Possible in

**A Period of Silence: **

**SILENT NIGHT**

By Adam Leigh

Day 2

----------------

**DECEMBER 19TH**

The next morning Kim woke to find Shego already gone. Somehow she'd slipped out of her tight grip during the night and out of the room without disturbing her. Kim wondered exactly how good of a thief Shego actually was, seeing as she'd never really seen her try to be sneaky. All of their encounters during high school had her in more of the 'head henchmen' role instead of the independent pincher that she had initially built her notoriety from.

Stretching the kinks out of her back from sleeping on the floor Kim reluctantly picked herself up and shivered at the morning chill when her blanket fell away. It was already past eight, according to her clock, which was late for her. She'd always been a morning person, even given her youthful nightlife, and was surprised that she'd easily slept past daybreak the first night back in her old bedroom since her second year of college.

Slinking over to the mirror, Kim checked her appearance before heading downstairs. No sense looking like a swamp monster even if it was just her family and her lover down there. Kim rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and moved away from the mirror.

The stopped. She backpedaled to the mirror and looked more closely. She blinked and then scowled.

"Shego," she swore.

Moving her hand up she gently rubbed the dark spot on her neck. A hickey. One that Shego had apparently given her in the morning without waking her up. Kim imagined the thin, slinky, dark haired woman as she grinned that stupid grin of hers as her mind came up with the idea of leaving a mark. She was a damn good sneak, Kim had to admit.

Kim started digging through her drawers for some clothes to toss on. Her parents may be comfortable with she and Shego being together, but she was pretty sure they did NOT care to see evidence of their sex life.

Kim stripped out of her tank top and pulled on a heavy wool turtleneck sweater and some tight fitting jeans. Shego loved to cause trouble, and Kim was generally okay with that. But for this she'd have to get revenge, and -- oh yes, it would be sweet.

Grabbing a brush off her dresser she started to head down the stairs. While pulling the tangles out of her red mop, Kim glanced over the pictures hanging on the wall beside the stairs. They were pictures of her and her brothers during all different stages of their life, like a living timeline. She saw the picture of her, Ron and the toddler tweebs during Chrsitmas when she was six. That was the first time Ron came to join in the Possible family events.

Beside that was a picture of Kim when she was about twelve. She was wearing those thick rimmed non-prescription glasses that somehow she'd gotten into her twisted head made her smarter. She sighed on behalf of her clueless self, ten years prior.

Finally, there was a picture of her and Ron holding hands, the tweebs, Nana Possible and Kim's parents. It was the vacation they all went on in the summer after Kim's Junior year of high school. The first summer she and Ron were together.

There were no more pictures in the line, but if there were, Kim knew there would have been an absence of smiles in the next one and then an absence of Ron in the one after that. Kim sighed again. At least now they could add another happy one, maybe one with Shego in it.

Kim was about to finish descending the stairs when something tickled the back of her mind. She stepped back up and looked at the pictures of herself on the wall. Six years, twelve years, seventeen years. She tilted her head. There was something significant about those ages, but she couldn't recall what it was.

"Kimmie, dear, is that you?" Kim's mom called from the kitchen. Shaking her head, Kim finished descending the stairs and combing her hair. She walked into the kitchen to find her mother making pancakes.

"Mmm," said Kim. "Smells great."

"Good morning, sweetheart," said Judy, flipping several pancakes. "I'll have a plate right up for you."

Kim looked around. "Where is everyone?" she asked as she headed to the silverware drawer to pull out a fork and a knife.

"Your father got pulled into work this morning," said her mother. "Some emergency issue at his lab that I think has to do with next week's shuttle launch. Who knows where your brothers are." She shook her head. "As soon as they learned to drive it was impossible to keep track of them anymore."

Kim laughed. "What about Shego?"

"She said she had to step out for a while," said Judy, stopping and looking up as if trying to pull a memory from thin air. "Something about checking in with a guy named Hench?" she ventured.

Kim nodded. "Ah, right," she said. "I was hoping she still had that job, I hadn't heard much since... well, since the GeneNominal thing." She grabbed a glass and headed for the fridge. "When did she leave?"

"About an hour ago." Judy flipped some pancakes onto a plate and brought them to the table while Kim returned with a glass of orange juice. Kim sat and began liberally applying syrup. Judy watched intently.

"Is something wrong, mom?" asked Kim while cutting a piece of pancake.

Her mother sat down next to Kim. "You know your father and I accept you, and your decisions, no matter what they might be, right?"

Kim smiled warmly and nodded. "Yeah, I know," she said. "I'm sorry I acted all spastic yesterday."

Judy chuckled, "He _was_ egging you on." Her expression turned serious again. "Listen, I know things have been rough for you in the last few years, much more than anyone expected. You know we've always supported your heroism even when it got you into the types of dangers that make parents cringe and stay up late thinking about. You know what you want to do with your life and we won't interfere with that. We love you."

Kim nodded as she slowly ate her pancakes. "I know, mom," she said kindly. "Believe me, I'm infinitely grateful for it."

"Then, understand that we just want to make sure you know what you're getting into before you commit too heavily," explained Judy. She hesitated then continued. "I don't have a problem with you being gay at all. But tell me about Shego. Before yesterday, the last time I saw her she was trying to kill you with that Plasma-Cannon thing mounted on that giant tank Drew had built. It's a little hard to reconcile that person with the one we met yesterday."

Kim thought for several moments while she chewed. "It might be better to explain something else, to help you understand," she said finally. "About me."

"You?" asked Judy.

Kim nodded. "To be honest, I've been kind of jealous of you and Dad and even the tweebs for a while."

"Jealous? Why?"

"Because you guys are really smart," said Kim. "I mean, not just 'hard worker' smart but, like, genius-smart. Neurosurgeon, rocket propulsion scientist, even skipping something like 3 grades and still outperforming everyone in school. I feel like, compared to all of you, I'm the normal one. And worst of all, the violent one."

"Oh, Sweetheart," said Judy. "There's nothing to be jealous about. And you're far from normal and definitely not violent for the sake of violence."

"I've come to realize that a bit," nodded Kim. "But for a long time I've been uneasy about it. I tried so hard to stand out in other ways, to do everything possible to compensate for the fact that I wasn't as smart as you all. Then, one day, I felt like I'd been chasing some imagined version of myself all my life only to realize that it's not me. That I wasn't that person."

Kim flushed slightly. "The person I am with Shego... that's more like the real me."

Judy looked at Kim, almost in awe.

"I don't really want to explain all the crap that Shego has gone through in her life," Kim continued, staring at the remains of her pancakes. "That's really her right to tell or not tell. But if it helps to understand her, then you should know that I think for a long time she felt the same way as me."

Kim looked up and she saw her mother looking... happily at her, although it looked like there were tears welling in her eyes. "Mom?" asked Kim, hesitantly.

"Come here," Judy finally said, moving in to hug her daughter closely. "My little girl," she said into Kim's hair. "You had it all wrong." She stroked her daughter's back. "You're the smartest of us all."

---( KP )---

Despite the display of familial love that had occurred over breakfast, Kim still got the impression that her mother didn't feel comfortable with her being with Shego. Naturally, the years of cutthroat fighting to which her mother could only be an observer (with few exceptions) couldn't be reversed with a few teary words and a hug, but there was clearly something else that her mother disliked about the situation. Kim tried to figure out what, but was distracted by the clock on the cable box telling her it was nearly noon and Shego _still_ hadn't returned from wherever she went this morning.

Tossing the magazine she was reading aside, Kim jumped onto her feet and paced around. She and Shego were supposed to be meeting Monique this afternoon and if this was the green woman's means of escaping that, Kim was going to have words with her come dinnertime. Of course, there's no telling what Jack Hench could have wanted, seeing as things in GJ were a mess after Allucinere escaped and Shego hadn't been allowed back in at all in the weeks since. Not that Shego minded, she spent nearly every minute watching over Kim, during and after visiting hours. Kim imagined the confrontation that took place between Shego and the night nurses who probably asked her to leave. Nobody got hurt, as far as Kim knew, but that doesn't mean a few poor attendants didn't get singed a little.

Kim stopped and decided. Even if Hench had an earful for her girl, Kim expected Shego to at least call and let her know where she was. This was unacceptable. Grabbing her coat and her cell phone, Kim headed for the door.

"I'm going out, Mom," she called.

"Out?" came an uneasy voice. "Out where? How long?" Judy came in from the study where she'd been pouring over some medical reports for the last hour.

Kim slowed as she approached the door then turned. "I'm going to look for Shego, she's been gone too long."

"Are you sure it's safe?"

Kim blinked. "Since when did that enter into our conversations?"

"Tromper could be out there." Judy frowned. "I thought you said you weren't going to go anywhere without a bodyguard until she was caught?"

"Shego was my bodyguard," said Kim. "I can't very well go out with my bodyguard when my bodyguard is missing. Besides, I don't really _need_ a bodyguard, it's just Middleton. I'll be back in an hour or two. Hench is in the city."

"Can't you just call her?" asked Ms. Dr. Possible.

"Shego doesn't believe in cell phones," Kim rolled her eyes. "Too easy to trace, she says." Kim put her hand to her hip. "Don't worry, mom, I'll be okay." Kim put her other hand on the doorknob behind her and twisted it.

"Kim," called her mother, but Kim turned and opened the door. She took one step through and had to stop as she came face to face with an older woman with short brown hair and a black eye patch. She gasped, startled.

"I think you should listen to your mother, Kim," said the woman with a serious look on her face.

"D-Dr. Director?" asked Kim, surprised. A second later she leapt back through the doorway landed with her legs apart and her hands at the ready. "Stay behind me, mom," she said urgently to the side.

Judy took a half step back. "Who is that?"

"Dr. Director," said Kim, guarded. "I think."

The woman who looked like Betty Director stepped through the door way, took her hands out of her long coat, and spread her arms. "It really is me, this time, Kim."

"How can I be sure?" asked Kim.

Dr. Director looked up and to the side for a moment. "I don't know, actually. We should have established some anti-Luminocodec protocol after the attack, but we were all a little worried about you at the time. I'm not sure I have a reliable means of identifying who I am that couldn't have been compromised by a PossiBot. Aside from that I doubt Allucinere would use the same trick twice."

Kim narrowed her eyes and looked the woman up and down. She certainly looked like Betty Director, but looks were entirely too deceiving. She sounded like Betty too, but Allucinere's expertise in creating ICs meant that couldn't be trusted either. The only thing Kim could do was make a gut decision and hope she was right.

Kim stood up a little more straight and lowered her arms. "What are you doing here, anyway?" Kim leaned to the side to peer out the door behind Betty. "And where's your entourage? Don't you usually go everywhere with a barrel-full of other agents?"

Betty smiled weakly. "I've been relieved of my duties at Global Justice," she explained. "My entourage is following the acting director of operations right now."

Kim frowned, and motioned Dr. Director to come in. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Betty closed the door behind her and stepped further into the room. "I figured it was coming, after the mess in the hospital. Officially, I'm just on suspension pending investigation, but because we're in an Alert-Orange security condition, suspended agents aren't allowed in the facility. So I'm pretty much completely cut out of the loop."

Kim looked down. She felt bad for Betty, for all their bad blood, GJ had helped out Kim a lot over the years, even they blundered with Allucinere.

A hand gently touched Kim's shoulder. "Kimmie?" asked Ms. Dr. Possible softly.

"Oh," said Kim, looking back up at Dr. Director. "I completely forgot. Dr. Director, this is my mother. Mom, this is Dr. Director."

The former agent stepped forward and held out her hand. "Just call me Betty," she said with a smile.

Kim's mom reciprocated. "Judy," she replied. "Why don't you have a seat?" She motioned towards the chairs in the living room.

"I don't mean to sound rude," said Kim, taking a seat but never letting Betty get out of her sight. "But if you're ex-GJ now, why are you here?"

"A couple reasons, actually," Dr. Director leaned forward. "First is to, well, to let you know I'm not in charge anymore. I don't know how important your safety is to my replacement, but if you haven't been contacted since leaving the hospital yesterday, I wouldn't count on GJ 'officially' having your back."

"Officially?" asked Kim.

Betty nodded. "Unofficially, however, Agent Load, Agent Du, and I will be doing everything we can to keep you safe. It probably won't be much, just letting you know what intel that GJ has uncovered about Allucinere's whereabouts, but hopefully it will help."

Kim looked down. "You don't have to do all this, you know."

With a sigh, Betty stood and moved towards the window, staring out. "I do," she said. "I really do."

"Why?" asked Kim.

Betty didn't move. "This is all my mess. You came to us back then, when you realized that the PossiBots were acting strangely, and I ignored you. If I had listened to you then, if I hadn't been so ... arrogant about GJ's power, nobody would have needed to get hurt." She turned slightly to glance at Kim. "Not you. Not... Senior Senior Senior."

Kim shivered at what Betty was alluding to and got quiet. The 'PH' device. The elder Senior had been the first to be subjected to it, and Kim was the last. She still felt uneasy when she thought about the experience. But at least she survived. Senior Senior Senior, on the other hand...

"Would you like something to drink, Betty?"

Both Betty and Kim looked up, startled at Ms. Dr. Possible's suddenly words. They'd almost forgotten she was sitting there. "Please," nodded Betty and Kim chimed in as well.

While Judy was in the kitchen, Betty fully turned back to face Kim.

"It's not..." started Kim but couldn't complete the sentence. "Well, it was a big deal, but nothing we do now will undo it." She sighed. "Don't worry about it anymore."

Betty moved to a closer chair Kim. "There's was something else too, something you were never told."

"Is it really important to tell me now?" asked Kim.

"It's about Maya," said Betty. "She was... infatuated with you." Betty hesitated for a moment. "She was in love with you."

Kim blinked. "Well, yeah," she shrugged. "She had all those disgusting PossiBot SexBots around her in the end. I sorta figured as much."

"We knew," said Betty.

Kim frowned. "What do you mean, you knew?"

"Before we assigned her to the PossiBot project, we already knew she was obsessed about you. It came out in her psych-evaluation prior to joining GJ. Since she worked on the research-side of GJ, she didn't have to have a clean bill of health, but it was noted as a possible problem." Betty closed her eyes. "We thought that her obsession with you would drive her to make the most accurate IC possible."

Kim let her mouth hang open for a few moments. "Well, you screwed up there."

Betty opened her eyes. "We--"

"No, wait," Kim interrupted angrily. "What's the point of this, huh? Why are you telling me all this now? You trying to make me hate you, is that it?" Kim stood and stormed a few steps away before turning. "What possible good could digging up all this old dirt do for me now?"

"She turned out to be unstable, Kim," Betty said sternly.

"No kidding!"

"Because she was in love with you," finished Betty.

Kim froze. Her brain, however, sped up a hundredfold. Thousands of thoughts spun through her head, all connected to a single, originating statement. "How dare you!" she seethed.

"How far can you trust--" started Betty, but there was no way Kim was letting her talk anymore.

"Don't even finish that thought!" snapped Kim. Her eyes burned as she stared at the former GJ agent. "What right do you have to ask that? To even _imply_ that?" Kim shook with rage. "You don't care about me. You're just trying to justify yourself!"

"You screwed up," said Kim. "But no, wait, you didn't! She liked girls, and girls who like girls are unstable, so it wasn't really your fault. Better watch out for that Shego woman though." Kim grit her teeth. "So what about me, Betty? When am I going to snap?"

Betty bit her lip and remained silent. Kim stared at her for a minute then turned and walked towards the stairs. Just before ascending she stopped and looked back at the motionless Director. She opened her mouth to say something else, something hurtful to match the pain Kim was feeling but she just stopped. What would be the point?

Without a word, Kim ascended the stairs to her room.

---( KP )---

Kim had her head buried beneath her pillow on her bed when she felt the touch. It was soft and warm and gently caressed her shoulder in just the right way that she knew who it was. Without a second thought she sat up and wrapped her arms around Shego, who quickly held her close. There were no words as they sat on the bed, holding each other. And the seconds seemed to last forever.

Eventually Kim softly pushed herself apart and then quickly punched Shego in the arm.

"Hey!" yelped Shego. "What was that for?"

"Where were you?" asked Kim. She glanced around. "What time is it?"

"Almost 3:30," said Shego. "And I was talking with Jack about--"

"Monique!" Kim interrupted. "We were supposed to meet her at 3!" She leapt off the bed and ran to her dresser. Looking in the mirror she gaped at her fussed hair and grabbed a nearby brush.

"Well, you're quick to recover," commented Shego.

Kim hesitated, then moved back to the bed and kissed Shego on the cheek. "I just don't want Monique to think we abandoned her. We'll talk when we get back."

Shego raised her eyebrows then shrugged. "Don't forget to put on pants though."

Kim looked at Shego with a puzzled look. "Pants? I already..." She looked down at her bare legs, then looked up with wide eyes. "How...?"

"You looked so very peaceful," said Shego, impishly. She pointed across the room. "They're over on your chair."

Kim walked purposefully towards Shego. "You really think you're being funny, don't you?"

"You're smiling," offered Shego.

"Yeah, well," Kim looked around before focusing back on Shego. She pulled on the neck of her sweater. "What was this all about?"

"Oh, right, I forgot about that."

"You're trying to torture me," concluded Kim.

"Nah," Shego shook her head. "Just trying to make you less of a prude."

"I'll have my revenge," said Kim with a nod. "Just you wait."

"Wow, if that's not a line from Drakken, I don't know what is."

Kim rolled her eyes and headed towards her desk. She slipped on her pants and then gave herself a once over to make sure Shego hadn't left any other surprises. She couldn't find anything else, but that didn't mean there wasn't anything.

"Are you ready to go?" asked Kim, heading for the stairs.

"Always," Shego said. She quickly slid beside Kim and walked with her down the stairs.

As they neared the bottom Shego suddenly purred. "Mmm, what's cooking? Smells like saffron."

"I'm not sure," said Kim, glancing along the staircase towards the kitchen. "Maybe some spiced rice or something."

Shego shook her head and headed towards the kitchen. "No, that smells more like the makings of Chicken Biryiani." She licked her lips and followed her nose. Kim blinked and trailed after her.

In the kitchen, they discovered Judy quietly toiling away at a chopping block with a multitude of ingredients surrounding her. "Hi girls," she said glancing up for a minute.

"Already cooking?" asked Kim, looking around. "For an army?" she added, quieter.

"Just getting ingredients prepared for dinner," Ms. Dr. Possible said as she finished chopping some melon. "So I can just toss everything into the pan at dinner time."

"Smells great already," said Shego as she walked casually though the kitchen and somehow ended up with a piece of melon in her mouth on the other side.

Kim laughed to herself and shook her head. "Come on, connoisseur, we're late already."

Shego dutifully turned around and headed back to Kim, smiling as she popped another cube of melon into her mouth as the approached the door. Kim looked at her as they left the house. "This is what you use your world class thievery skills for?"

"Hey, you won't let me use them any way else," said Shego as she started to glow again. Kim slid beside her and soaked in the heat as they headed for the car.

"Uh-nuh," Shego shook her head as Kim started heading for the driver's side. "I'm driving this time."

"I'm a great driver," said Kim with a fake pout. She pulled away from Shego and moved to the passenger side. "You probably don't even know where we're going."

"I think I spent as much around here as you did," said Shego. "Between nano-tick bombs, humiliation ninjas, tri-city conventions and the odd Jewish ceremony to crash, I think Drakken had me here twice as much as we were at any of his lairs." She sat behind the wheel and started the car up. "'course if it makes you feel more 'in charge' to direct me to the mall, feel free."

"I take it all back," said Kim, grimacing. "'Eager-to-please-me Shego wasn't all that bad after all."

Shego laughed.

Kim was silent for the first few minutes of the brief trip, which was apparently enough for Shego to try and start up conversation. "So, do you want to tell me what happened with Dr. Director?" she asked bluntly.

Kim frowned. "She called us both crazy."

Shego considered the statement. "Sounds about right," she replied.

"No," Kim curtly said. "She was serious. Mentally imbalanced due to lesbianism."

Shego nearly swerved off the road when she looked at Kim. Only her reflexes kept her from running through the shoulder. "Seriously?" she asked after getting the vehicle under control.

"Seriously," repeated Kim.

"What... what could possibly have given her that idea?" asked Shego, incredulous. "She doesn't seem to be the type to jump to conclusions."

Kim sighed softly. "Maya... had a thing for me." She looked out the window then turned slightly to glance behind them as they passed a department store. "Dr. Director called it an obsession, and she was probably right. Maya viewed me as 'perfect' and just sort of ignored the screw-ups I'd made in my life."

Kim rubbed her temples. "I'm not sure what caused her snap specifically, but it was related to her idolization of me. Somehow she'd created a template for the 'perfect agent of justice' based on my life that I didn't fit into anymore. Her PossiBots, though... _they_ fit."

Kim turned to Shego. "By not matching her ideal, she'd decided I'd betrayed her." She looked back at the road. "After that, it got messy."

Shego frowned as she looked at Kim out of the corner of her eye. "You blame yourself for her."

Kim shook her head. "No. Not really. I suppose I do have some fault for giving up my name to GJ, but there was no way I could have been what she wanted. And much of this conflict went on without my knowing."

"Dr. Director knew, though," said Shego.

"Yeah, well, that's what she just told me this afternoon," said Kim. "I started to figure some of it out back then, but she told me not to worry, that it was under control. That the things I was noticed were missing 'context.'" She shook her head. "I still trusted her back then."

Kim breathed slowly but she could feel her skin crawl at the memories. "Can we--?"

"So what's our approach with your friend Monique?" asked Shego, in a lively voice. "She doesn't know about us, right?"

Kim looked to Shego and then smiled warmly. A second later she responded. "No, but she may have heard something through the grapevine." She hesitated then raised a finger. "Oh, wait, actually, she knows that we've become friends. I did tell her that on the phone a few months ago."

"How'd she respond?" asked Shego.

"The same way everyone's been responding, pretty much," shrugged Kim. "First shock and surprise, then with guarded statements. Anyone who knows you probably suspects you've got me mind chipped."

Shego shivered. "Ugh, I hate those things."

"I feel the same way," nodded Kim. She glanced in the side-view mirror again and felt uneasy.

Shego turned the car onto the ramp into the parking garage at the mall. There was an enormous amount of traffic today thanks to last minute shoppers. It would continue to get worse right up until the 24th then quickly ease off. "This reminds me, we need to buy some Christmas gifts."

"Oh fun," said Shego, sarcastically. "I hope you have a list, to make this less excruciating."

"Right, because I had all this time to search online while I was drugged up in the hospital." Kim folded her arms. "'Good Shego' should care what my family thinks of her."

"I think your family has pretty well established opinions of both me and 'Good Shego' already, and I doubt they include a huge amount of charity." Shego opened her window and grabbed a parking ticket stub for the garage.

"I thought you liked shopping."

Shego waved her finger. "You've confused shopping for others with shopping for me. I love shopping for me."

"Well, it never hurts to exceed expectations," said Kim.

"Fine, whatever," said Shego as she pulled into a parking spot. "Just remember the trunk on this thing is about as big as a watermelon."

The two headed into the mall from the garage, stopping only to confirm where the food court was before nearly jogging over there.

"It's 3:45 already," said Kim in a strained voice. "I hope she doesn't hate me."

The food court at the Middleton mall was a hemisphere of franchised food stores, bathing the small section of tables and chairs with their multicolored neon signs. Due to the holiday rush, it was packed to the brim.

"We probably should have established a less crowded meeting place," noted Kim. "I don't see her anywhere."

Shego squinted. "Drakken could hide in this mess and not be seen." She shook her head. "I'll go up to the 2nd floor, you look here. Meet back in 5 if you find nothing."

Kim nodded and began wading through the sea of shoppers. She glanced back once to see Shego vanish up a staircase to check the second floor of fast food restaurants. She hoped Monique was still around. She'd hate for her to find out through someone else about her and Shego, she owed her close friend more than that. But being late didn't figure into her plan for the day. Nor did Dr. Director's sudden visit...

Five minutes later, however, Kim relented and returned to where Shego was already waiting.

"Nothing?" asked Shego.

"Nothing," confirmed Kim. "Ugh, this is not how I imagined this visit to Middleton going."

"It's a dangerous sort of business," quoted Shego. "Going out your front door."

"I'll call her when we get back to my folks' place," said Kim putting her hands into her pockets and frowning. "Over the phone will work too, I guess."

"Don't beat yourself up, Princess," said Shego. "If she's a close friend, a little lateness is just water under the bridge."

"I supp--" started Kim, then she froze. Her eyes flickered over the crowd of people in the food court and just outside. Her face turned to a scowl.

"What's wrong?" asked Shego, looking where Kim was.

Kim looked at Shego, then casually moved close and whispered into her ears. "Those two have been following us since we left my parent's house," she said.

"What?" Shego turned. "Where? Wait, which two?"

"Black cap and yellow scarf," said Kim. "Hey, don't stare at them, they'll know you've seen them."

"I didn't notice--"

"They were in the green SUV that followed behind us until we reached the garage," Kim said. She moved slightly away from the food court over to a central atrium with a large stone piece of 'art' that looked more like a giant glob of clay slightly shaped to resemble a snake or a worm of some sort. Kim walked around the large monolith dragging Shego by the hand. Once the statue was between her and the food court, she turned.

"Keep talking as if I'm still here," said Kim. "I'll try to get around behind them."

"What? Are you sure they're following us?" asked Shego, skeptically. "And shouldn't I be the one doing this, I'm the bodyguard."

"You're too tall, I can hide beneath the crowed easier and get right over there in a minute." Kim put her hand to her hip. "And don't get all protective, I'm just as capable as you are."

Kim turned and bumped into someone enough to disrupt the constant flow of people moving through the atrium then swiftly entered the flow, keeping her knees slightly bend enough that her stark red hair didn't give away the deception. She had to arc way out towards the department store on this end of the mall to avoid coming out in the open, but a couple minutes later she was heading back and keeping the two goons in her vision out the corner of her eye.

The two men appeared beefy, and didn't look at all like Kim or the PossiBots that she remembered, but that was the trouble with Allucinere's Luminocodec technology, it could create mask any shape with a holograph to make it appear bigger or taller of either gender. Kim caught another look at the two men as they chatted to each other, looking back in Shego's direction only once every 30 seconds to keep their target spotted. Kim was annoyed they'd followed her this long but somewhat relieved that Monique wasn't around to get caught up in this.

After another minute of mulling with a particularly slow group of shoppers, Kim was in position behind them. As swiftly as she could she came up directly behind them and kicked out the backs of their knees, causing them to fall to the floor. Quickly moving beside them she grabbed one of the arms of the men and spun him so he landed on the other thug.

"What the--" started the man on top as he landed on his cohort.

"All right, spill it, who are... you... guys?" Kim started then trailed off as she stared at the man's face. "Why do I know you?" she said suddenly.

"Oww," said the man on top rubbing his knee as he slid off the back of the other man. "We -- geeze -- I don't' have the body armor on this time."

Kim blinked. "Oh my -- Shego!" she called out angrily.

"Hey, yah," Shego said finally getting through the crowd over to Kim. "Sorry." She shrugged and made a weak smile. "I thought we could use the help."

"You could have _told_ me!" replied Kim before reaching out a hand to the fallen men.

"Ah, no thanks," waved off one of the two, as he pushed himself back up onto his feet. Then he reached into his coat and pulled out a small ID badge that read: 'HenchCo. Security.'

"I'm sorry," said Kim. "That's twice I... I really am sorry."

"It's alright ma'am," nodded the man, pocketing his badge again.

"I never got your name the first time I attacked you for doing your job," said Kim, somewhat sheepishly.

"Ben Elliot," said the man. He motioned behind him. "This is Carl Weatherly."

"Ma'am," said Carl with a nod.

Kim turned back to Shego and stared accusingly.

"That was one of the things I was talking with Jack about this morning," Shego said. "I was about to tell you when you woke up but then you remembered the Monique thing and... uh, it slipped my mind."

"I don't believe that for a second," said Kim. "But I'll deal with you later."

Kim turned back to Ben and Carl. "I appreciate the help, guys," she said. "I don't think it's necessary but I guess it could be nice having someone watch my back for a change."

The two security men nodded.

"But while you're both here," said Kim with a grin. "Maybe you can help with our shopping."

Shego looked alarmed. "Run, now," she advised. The two men cautiously regarded Kim, but stubbornly stood their ground.

---( KP )---

Despite Shego's dismay, the shopping didn't take very long through a combination of Kim's quick assessment of what each member of her family might like and the realization that much of what was worth shopping for in the mall would already have been sold out. Still, they managed to get most of their gifts taken care of and even bought a gift each for Ben and Carl who had helped carry their bounty to the car.

Once back at home, Kim was surprised to see her father's car in the drive at six o'clock. "I guess Dad got off work early," she commented as she and Shego gathered up their bags from the trunk.

"He usually works late?" asked Shego.

"Almost always. Although I imagine he doesn't have to, he's just a workaholic."

"Government employees get overtime too, I think," said Shego, closing the hatch on her car.

"Not everything is about money, you know, Sheeg," said Kim with a smile.

"I didn't say it was his motivation, per se," replied Shego. "Just that it didn't hurt."

The two quickly moved up the path to the door since Shego couldn't do her magic heating trick with all the flammables they were carrying. Kim had to juggle her bags to get the doorknob but she gave it a half-twist she checked the door with her hip to get it to fly open the rest of the way. Without a second's hesitation, the two girls filed in and shut out the cold behind them.

"That's quite an entrance there, sweetie."

Kim looked up, not quite sure who just spoke. It didn't sound like her mother but it was definitely a woman's voice. Kim scanned the living room to see her parents sitting on the couch, each casually with a drink, and welcoming Kim and Shego back. Beside the couch, on the old armchair, a much older, but still trim and athletic looking, sat, nursing a cup of tea.

"Nana!" cried Kim, as she dropped her bags and rushed to hug her grandmother.

Nana gave a strong hug in return and patted Kim's back. "There's my little granddaughter."

"Heh," laughed Kim. "At some point you'll have to stop calling me that. I'm far from little anymore."

"Everyone starts to look like once you get a certain age, dear," she said, then motioned to Kim's father. "I still think of him as this little boy running around mine and Edwin's house, taking apart the radio whenever we took our eyes off him."

"Nana," said James Possible, looking slightly red. "I always put them back in working order."

"Of course you did," nodded Nana. "Well, except the time you improved your father's stereo and started broadcasting Jethro Tull to all the other radios in the neighborhood."

Kim turned as Shego came up behind her and smiled to her raven-haired lover. "Shego," she said gently grabbing onto her arm. "This is my Nana, whom you've met before, I know."

"I do remember," smiled Shego, holding out her hand. "I'm sorry for the trouble Drakken caused you back then."

Nana laughed. "No trouble, just lost a few Lemon Squares, and it helped me get closer to my granddaughter in the end." She winked to Kim. "My name is Leslie," she said, shaking Shego's hand.

"Lily," said Shego, with a pleasant smile.

"That's a nice name," said Nana, nodding. "Why did you use such a boyish name all the time?"

Shego laughed. "My _boor_ish brother named me that when we got our powers. He felt it made a super-hero team stronger if everyone had a rhyming name. I really hated my parents for a while too, so I did anything to disavow they had anything to do with me. Which included losing the name they gave me." Shego looked at Kim. "I've recently come to a better understanding of my past, though, so I've been thinking about going back to it."

"Well, it's a lovely name," repeated Nana. "So, you were part of a super-hero team?"

"Uh, yeah," said Shego. "Team Go, in Go City."

"I've heard of them!" said Nana. "Your whole family became super-powered?"

"It's a long story, but yes." Shego shrugged. "We fought crime mostly in Go City for a while, but, well, it didn't last. Hego still does it, part time, but I think my other brothers have moved on with their lives."

"It's a hard job," nodded Nana. She sipped her tea. "I've met a few would-be crime fighters over the years, most were in it for fame, and the rest..." she trailed off.

"You've met other heroes, Nana?" asked Kim, sitting on a nearby chair. Shego looked around and eventually lounged on a loveseat opposite Nana.

"Sure," said Leslie. She smiled enthusiastically. "For instance, when I was in BUDS, there was this young Ensign with extraordinary talent who later became a vigilante in Boston. Named... uh... Silver Streak, I think. He was one of the lucky ones. Fell of a rooftop and fractured his leg, got out of the business."

"That's lucky?" asked Shego, incredulous.

Nana nodded. "Too many boys with dreams ended up getting in over their head and were injured far more grievously than a broken bone." She nodded to Kim. "That's why I really didn't want to see you get caught up in this mess." She looked into her empty tea cup. "I wish I hadn't been right, though."

Kim looked down, feeling morose over the memories of her first contact with Allucinere and her 'PH' device. "I'll get you some more tea, Nana," she said standing again. Gently taking the cup, she left the living room for the kitchen.

The kitchen was a symphony of smells, as things were baking and slowly cooking in preparation for dinner. Somehow her mother had set everything up to require little monitoring. Looking at the display, she realized why her mother was preparing dinner so much earlier.

Moving to the cabinet, Kim pulled out a small box filled with tea and picked out Nana's favorite, Darjeeling. Placing the small packet in the teacup, she doused it with hot water from the still steaming kettle on the stove.

"Kim." Kim turned to see her mother walking into the kitchen.

Kim smiled. "Mom."

"Are you all right?"

Kim put the tea kettle back onto the stove and then turned back. "Yeah, I'll be fine." She stirred the teacup slowly. "I didn't know Nana was coming for Christmas."

"I thought it might be a good time for you to have your whole family around to support you," said Judy. She went to one of the pots on the stove and freed the plumes of steam from the steel can. "After Nana found out about you being in the hospital, your father and I had to spend quite a while talking her down from coming right away." After stirring the pot a couple times, she replaced the lid. "She was very worried about you."

"It's just not a good time for her to be around though," said Kim. "That run-in with Dr. Director this morning, and then again with Hench's thugs at the mall, just made me think that if Allucinere were to come after me, anyone near me could be in danger." Kim pulled out the tea bag and tossed it in the trash. "I would never forgive myself if Nana got hurt because of me."

"I think you know your Nana is pretty good at taking care of herself," said Judy. "And if you extend that logic of yours, you could never be close to anyone anymore."

"It's not a bad idea," Kim said. "At least while she's out there."

Kim's mother looked at her daughter with a thin smile. "Your father and I decided long ago that we wouldn't interfere in your heroism. But we _would_ keep an eye on you to make sure you didn't lose yourself in it." She put her hands on Kim's shoulders. "We've never even had to consider stepping in before. After everything we talked about this morning, don't lose your balance now."

Kim tipped her head to rest it against her mother's shoulder. Older, but warm arms wrapped comfortably around her. "I knew getting out would be harder than getting in," said Kim. "I'm trying my best not to get you all involved."

"We know, dear. You can't take responsibility for everything, though."

Kim nodded. "Nana's tea is going to get cold," she said. She broke away from the hug and headed back towards the living room.

"Tell everyone dinner will be in just a few minutes," called her mother.

"All right."

Kim carefully made sure not to spill any of the tea when she entered the living room, but the sight alone nearly made her drop the cup.

"Carnival Jim?" laughed Shego, nearly doubled over. "He took on the United States Navy?"

"The marines mostly," said Nana, laughing. "We were stationed in the Persian Gulf, when his hot air balloon just flew over. It was like he never considered that a getaway vehicle should be fast."

Shego further exploded in laugher. "He -- he," she started but had to pause to catch her breath. "He was always up in arms over these 'great crimes' he used to commit. Had a panel at the last Tri-City Villains Convention on 'furthering your criminal ambitions' or something like that. I never believed a word of it." She shook her head. "A hot air balloon, huh?"

Nana nodded. "We shot it once with our AA guns and he just drifted slowly down into the water where we picked him up. Locked him up for probably... twenty years?"

"Yeah, that would fit," agreed Shego. "First Tri-City was about eleven years ago, and he's supposedly one of the longest guests." She got a smirk. "I've got to make sure this gets out just before the convention, next year. See the liar sweat a little."

"What's going on?" asked Kim as she handed the teacup to Nana.

"I was just telling Lily about some 'super villains' I've run into over the years," said Nana. "Turns out she's met some of the same ones."

"You met villains while in the navy, Nana?" asked Kim, sitting next to Shego on the loveseat.

"Of course," she nodded then sipped her tea. "Ah, quite good."

"I never heard of this," said Kim, looking between Shego and Nana.

"There wasn't much to say, really. Just because an enemy of the US dresses in bright colors doesn't mean they're treated any differently."

"I guess not," mused Kim. "I just never thought they were that many of them prior to my first run-in with Drakken."

"I don't think they got in the news much previously," said Nana, placing her cup aside. "Few heroes or villains have reached the level of popularity you enjoyed in high school."

"Team Go certainly didn't," added Shego. "Outside of Go city they were relatively unknown."

"But why-" started Kim but was interrupted by the front door suddenly swinging open and a pair of boys come stamping in. Kim turned to see Jim and Timothy by the front door pulling off their coats and wiping their shoes.

Timothy was the first to notice the people in the living room. "Hey Nana!" he said, rushing over to give her a hug. "When did you get in?"

"Just an hour or so ago, dear," said Nana with a smile.

Jim came quickly over as well and repeated the greeting. "How's Florida? Any wicked parties going on down there?"

"I'm sure I wouldn't know if there were," laughed Nana. "How are you two doing? It's been a while the two of you have caused trouble together."

Jim laughed, but Timothy responded. "We're trying not to get on each other's nerves, which is harder for some-" he glanced once at Jim, "than others."

"It helps that we have a joint goal right now," said Jim with a shrug.

"What rocket propelled annoyance are you two scheming now?" asked Kim, her eyes narrowed.

"Ah," started Jim, then looked to Timothy.

"It's a secret," said Timothy, looking serious. "You'll be the first to know when it's ready to be unleashed though." He smiled.

"Hmm," mused Kim.

"Dinner's just about ready," said Kim's mom as she walked into the room. "Boys, where on earth have you been?"

"Around," both Jim and Timothy said in unison.

"Staying around long enough for dinner?" asked Judy.

"Sure," said Jim. Timothy nodded in agreement. "We just need to check one thing first."

"It won't take long," added Jim. The two then dashed up the stairs.

"I think I may have liked it better when they were not getting along," said Kim.


	11. Silent Night, December 20th, 4 of 9

----------------

_Disney's_ Kim Possible in

**A Period of Silence: **

**SILENT NIGHT**

By Adam Leigh

Day 3

----------------

**DECEMBER 20TH**

The early yellow rays of sunlight cast softly down through the rough fabric curtains in Kim's room and gently nudged her awake. The red-headed girl was surprised to find how much she welcomed the morning from what was apparently a dreamless sleep. She breathed in deeply to fill her lungs with the fresh, dawn air...

The icy chill across her teeth and sharp searing into her lungs made her wish she thought twice about the act, however. The day before winter and finally the first frost had come. It was positively freezing in Kim's room, and she quickly nestled herself further in her thick blankets for warmth.

She was pulling the coarse red fabric over her when she felt the arms across her chest and looked slowly down at her bedmate. The woman who lay there was still asleep and looked peaceful. Her face was serene and never appeared so relaxed when awake. Kim was startled at how much more beautiful it had became. Her wild, gorgeous hair, framed her pale, almost bone-white skin with just a hint of green, and disappeared beneath the sheets.

Fluffing her pillow slightly, Kim propped her head up on the soft surface and watched silently the slow breaths of her lover. Each puff of warm air played across her lips and brushed across Kim's skin briefly before dissipating into the room. Shego barely moved through the cycle, only the briefest quiver of her lips as she breathed showed that she was more than a quiet statue.

Kim closed her eyes again and listened to the sound of each breath. She tried to forget the last few days, the last few months and years, stretching all the way back to when she was a cheerful high school junior. She remembered sleeping in this bed, in this house, and waking early enough to see the sunrise before running out to do some jogging before cheerleader practice. She would come back afterwards just in time to catch a bite of breakfast, then call Monique to see what was happening. Maybe that week she'd get a call from Wade, or maybe she'd just relax and practice her martial arts, hang out with Ron, or see a movie.

For just a second, she could feel it. It was a life not without troubles, but with far more manageable ones. One without robot clones of her, or fanatic stalkers bent on world justice, or PH devices, or years of animosity between her and her once close friends. It was a world where Senior Senior Senior was a pain, but he was still alive. It was...

It was a world where Shego was her enemy.

Kim opened her eyes again and stared at Shego's serene face again. No, that was a dream of a life gone past. A life she enjoyed while she lived it, but one she couldn't and wouldn't want to return to. Even if it was a simpler time, this was her life now.

As if sensing her conviction, Shego's eyes suddenly fluttered and then opened, focusing on Kim's face. "Hey Princess," she said softly, her craggy voice cracking slightly. "What time is it?"

"Just shy of 9am," said Kim, staring into Shego's emeralds. She reached out a brushed some of her lover's loose strands of hair away from her face. "You slept in."

"I did," said Shego with a smile. "Very observant."

"You've never done that before," said Kim. "You're always up before me, and go to sleep after I do. I've never seen you sleep before."

Shego slowly nodded then turned to lay on her back with her arms tucked under her head. "It's just force of habit, pumpkin. I was never good at that waking up and dodging an attack thing you see in movies all the time. Better to be awake and on guard than trying to hear trouble while you're asleep."

"That's a pretty roundabout way of saying you trust me not to attack you," Kim noted.

"I've trusted you for a while," said Shego, turning her head to face Kim. "This is your turf, though. I expect you'll be better at sensing trouble here than me."

Kim considered that then leaned over and kissed Shego softly.

"Yes, I'll protect you," Kim said after their lips parted.

"I never said I needed protecting," shook Shego.

"It's alright, I won't make you." Kim grinned. Shego just continued to shake her head.

"So what's going on today?" asked the dark haired woman. "And why isn't your furnace working? It's cold enough to freeze a girl." She closed her eyes for a second then started glowing immediately afterwards. Kim took advantage of the portable heater and nestled closer to her lover.

"We need to pick up Ron today," said Kim.

"The buffoon?" asked Shego, startled. "Why do we have to pick him up from anywhere?"

"Well, one, because his flight comes in today and, two, because Ron is still an important friend to me and I don't want to alienate him." Kim looked up at Shego's face. "You're not going to cause him trouble are you?"

Shego frowned as if considering the question, but answered shortly afterwards. "No, not any more trouble than I cause you. I guess." She ran her hand through her hair a few times to pull out some tangles. "Stoppable, huh? I haven't heard you talk about him in a long time."

"It's not something you'd be comfortable with, I figured," said Kim. "Old boyfriend and an old enemy for you."

"But not even an off-hand mention in the last six months," continued Shego. "I would think his name would have come up once. I admit that for most of the last half year I only saw you on Thursdays, but still. You've been acting more like he doesn't exist."

Kim opened her mouth to rebut her but hesitated. She wasn't really that far off. She hadn't thought much of Ron recently, not just in the last few months, but beyond that as well. "Ties to my past are important to me, Shego," Kim finally said. "We've been ... distant, Ron and me, for the last few years. It's been pretty much ever since we broke up."

"How did it--" Shego started then abruptly stopped. "No, I won't make you tell me. I'll just assume it was rough."

"In a way," said Kim. "It made things awkward, in any case. But, since things have really started working between us -- you and me, I mean -- I've been meaning to clear things up with him. To go back to being close friends."

"Not too close, I hope," said Shego with a sideways glance.

"You're first in my world now," Kim assured, then managed a weak smile.

"Good," nodded Shego. "Where is he coming from, anyway?"

"France," said Kim. "He's attending a culinary academy near Paris and only makes it back for holidays. Today's the day he comes back." Kim hesitated for only a moment. "He doesn't know about us yet."

"So we're going to be telling him together, I assume," said Shego. "It'll probably feel like an ambush to him."

"He'll be alright," said Kim. "It won't throw him off, anyway, but... I'm just not sure what he's going to think about ... you know ... the time we were dating."

Shego looked at Kim as the latter frowned at the memory. "You're worried he's going to think it was a lie, that you always had a thing for me," Shego said. Kim nodded. "Tell him the truth." She propped her head up on her palm. "He has to believe you, or you're never going to be close friends again."

"Yeah," Kim mused. "I guess."

Shego arched an eyebrow. "I'm assuming that it's not the case though."

"What?" asked Kim.

"That you weren't just faking it with him, while hiding a crush on me," Shego said.

"Of course!"

"Uh-huh," said Shego, suspiciously. "Did you have a thing for me back in--"

"No," Kim said flatly.

"Not just a little?"

"NO!"

"Hmph." Shego laid back down flat. "You don't have to be so adamant about it."

"Did you?" asked Kim.

"What?"

"Have a crush on me? Back when we were fighting."

Shego frowned. "That's ridiculous."

"That's not an answer," Kim pointed out. "You did, didn't you?" She started to grin.

"You were an annoyance at best," said Shego.

"I don't believe that now," Kim shook her head. "Come on, come clean! What's the harm now? We ended up together!"

"I'm not giving you the pleasure--"

"Oh, we both know that's not something you avoid."

Shego glared at her. Her lips twisted, almost in a pout then she said, "For a day." She looked away again.

"A day?" asked Kim. "You crushed on me for just a day?"

"First off, princess," Shego said, turning back and raising a finger. "I never 'crushed' on you. I thought you were attractive." She held up a second finger. "Secondly, I came to my senses when I realized how overwhelmingly annoying you were."

Kim considered that. "When?"

"Oh for god's sake--"

"I'm just curious," explained Kim. "When did--"

"When we were caught in the cable box," Shego said quickly. She furrowed her brow. "On the 'Fear Factor'-esque channel."

Kim struggled to recall. "The bridge diving?"

"Yah," nodded Shego. "I just never realized how much like me you were until then." She looked back at Kim. "It was a momentary lapse. I got over it."

Kim smiled widely.

"Stop it," said Shego, her cheeks darkening.

"That's cute," said Kim.

"I'm serious, drop it."

"All this time I thought you loathed me," continued Kim.

"I DID!" yelled Shego.

"And here I find out you were harboring secret desires for your nemesis."

"That's it! I'm putting you back in the hospital!"

Shego threw off the covers and lunged at Kim. Kim grabbed Shego's glowing, outstretched hands and held them aside as they tumbled across the room, struggling against each other.

Kim laughed the entire time.

---( KP )---

"Hi Daddy," said Kim as she came down from her room and noticed her father digging behind the door beneath the staircase.

"'Morning, Kimmiecub," he replied in his typically cheerful manner. "Your mother said she heard something awful coming from your room. Is everything all right?"

"That would be me," said Shego, walking evenly down the stairs with a scowl, passing Kim and her father, and then vanishing into the kitchen.

"Hmm," said Dr Possible, rubbing his chin.

"She's just a sourpuss before breakfast," Kim said, smiling widely. "What are you doing?"

"The old furnace was acting up again this morning." Dr. Possible dusted off his hands. "Got to almost fifty degrees before I got it running again."

"What happened?" asked Kim, studying the slightly rusted furnace. There was nothing about the box's operation she understood, but she felt looking at it was the appropriate response when talking about broken mechanical things.

"There was something jammed against the exhaust vent, keeping it closed." Kim's dad picked a small blackened object off the ground and held it between his fingers. "Oxygen couldn't get in so the fire kept getting snuffed out."

The charred black object caught Kim's eye and she turned her attention away from the larger box to this smaller one. It resembled a large gaming die, but had a series of concentric circles on all sides and what appeared to be a cracked lens and a small hole. Where as Kim had to guess the internal function of the larger furnace, she realized she knew exactly the purpose of the smaller cube.

"Kimmiecub?" asked her father. "Are you alright?"

"What is that doing here?" Kim said roughly, her mouth feeling dry.

"What?" asked Dr. Possible. He raised the hand holding the cube. "This? You know what it is?"

A sharp twisting feeling settled in Kim's stomach and she swallowed to keep from feeling nauseous. "It's a luminocodec," she said finally. Her father tilted his head in confusion. "One of Maya's portable holographic devices."

Kim stepped back once. Anything to put distance between her and the damn thing. "Was Maya here last night?" she questioned. "Is someone who's here right now Maya?"

"Now, let's not get too paranoid, sweetheart," said Dr. Possible, his hands raised.

"Nana," said Kim. "She showed up last night."

"Don't you go accusing your grandmother of anything on a whim, little lady," her father said sternly.

"The Tweebs were out late and being secretive," Kim continued.

"Honey!" Dr. Possible yelled over his shoulder towards the kitchen. "I think I need you."

"Oh no," Kim said, putting her hand over her mouth. "Shego was gone for hours on end yesterday too. SHE could be her!"

Judy Possible walked out from the kitchen, followed distantly by Shego -- or someone who looked exactly like Shego. "What's going on?" asked Ms. Dr. Possible.

"I found this in the furnace," Dr. Possible said, holding up the blackened cube. "Kim thinks it belongs to Maya Tromper."

"What?!" squawked the 'Shego.' She stormed past Judy and over to Kim, who eyed her suspiciously.

"Kimmie, dear," said Ms. Dr. Possible. "Remember what we talked about last night. Don't barricade yourself."

"She had to have been here," said Kim. "How else could that have gotten there? _Inside_ the furnace is not a place things randomly end up!"

"But you know she's been here before," said her mother.

Kim looked wide eyed back at her.

Judy continued, "She came here two years ago. She wore a hologram that looked like you and took your sliver battle-suit, Prometheus or whatever it was called."

"Hey, you're right," said Dr. Possible, examining the luminocodec. "With the amount of carbon scoring on this, it had to have been in there for a long time. Possibly years."

"You see?" said Ms. Dr. Possible.

Kim frowned but tried to think. Did that sound reasonable? She looked at the beauty standing next to her.

"You're real, right?" she asked.

"Do I have to justify that with an answer?" said the woman, sarcastically. A few seconds later she blinked then said, "Yes, I'm the real Shego. And I can't believe you're that willing to believe I'm not."

"I'm sorry," Kim said, hanging her head. "This is just too surreal. The first time I never even met any of the PossiBots until after I was going after Allucinere, and the only person they ever tried to impersonate was me."

"Don't you think you know us well enough to spot a fake?" asked Ms. Dr. Possible. "There's more to a person than their appearance, after all."

Kim looked down and then nodded. "You're right." Kim looked up at Shego and then her parents. "Maybe I'm getting a little paranoid."

"Try: definitely," said Shego. Then moved up and wrapped her arms around her. "I would never hurt you the way this girl did. You know that, right?"

Kim smiled slightly and leaned her head against Shego's shoulder. "Yeah, I know."

The moment was interrupted by a knock at the door. Kim and Shego looked up and at the door. Kim glanced back at her parents.

"Yesterday it was Dr. Director," she said. "I wonder who it'll be this time."

Dr. Possible strode forward and answered the door. A man wearing a large brown overcoat stood with a rectangular platter in his hand and a small brown box. He had a badge on his shoulder that read 'Global Express.'

"Kim Possible?" asked the man, holding up the box and reading the yellow label. Dr. Possible took the box and signed for it. "Happy holidays!" said the man as he departed and Kim's father shut the door.

"What is it?" asked Ms. Dr. Possible as she walked up.

James looked at the box. "It's from Wade," he said with raised eyebrows. He looked to Kim. "Early Christmas gift?"

Kim took the brown cube into her hand and pulled at the tape. Shego and her parents looked over her shoulder as she opened the flaps. Inside the box rested a large faced watch with a metal band lying on some crumbled newspaper as packing material.

"It's a watch," said Shego, sounding confused. "Merry Christmas?"

Kim pulled out the timepiece and held it up in the light. The face was digital, but rather than displaying the time in numbers it had a rendered clock face on it over her old "KP" symbol that used to show on her--

The watch sudden chimed four times. The face of the watch changed to show "INCOMING CALL" over the time. Kim frowned, then tapped the face of the watch once, for lack of any other buttons or panels on the device.

The screen went to black then was replaced with a real-time image of Wade.

"Kim!" he said, sounding strangely tinny over the small speakers in the watch. He was wearing his GJ agent's uniform but appeared to be someplace dark else, a dark room or hallway. The glow of his computer reflected slightly off his face, giving his eyes a creepy gleam.

"Wade?" asked Kim. "This is... a kimmunicator?"

Shego leaned in quietly and put her lips to Kim's ears. "There's no way to know if that's really him," she whispered. Kim nodded slightly.

"Somewhat," said Wade, shrugging. "A little of this, little of that. Not quite as mobile as the original you had in school, but smaller, and non-descript. I call it a K-Link."

Kim smiled somewhat sadly. "Still naming things after me?"

Wade blushed but continued. "Actually the core of the system is based off a GJ developed nano-computer called a Alphine Kasiolex. It's only slightly more powerful than my own design, but GJ had a few lying around so I... uh," he leaned closer to the screen. "I stole a few."

"Stole?" asked Kim, surprised.

"Yeah," Wade said awkwardly. "Listen, Kim, I don't have a whole lot of time right now before they find this signal, and I don't expect you can believe me entirely, given that Allucinere is out there. But, GJ is still not sure how long exactly she was awake and freely walking HQ before we found her. It's possible she knows everything in the GJ databases."

"Didn't she already know everything?" asked Kim. "She was a GJ agent."

"Woah, this Allucinere bitch worked for Global Justice?" interrupted Shego.

"Ahem," coughed Judy.

"Sorry," said Shego.

"Don't you know?" asked Wade.

Shego looked to the side. "I'm a little behind on my intel."

"Well, the real issue is that she could have been sending orders all that time," explained Wade. "Impersonating Betty or some other high ranking member of Global Justice. So all operations, worldwide, have been suspended and a massive internal investigation has begun. Essentially, GJ will be doing nothing while that's happening."

"Nothing?" asked Kim. "Nothing at all?"

"Nothing of any significance," Wade replied. "Even contacting people, like I'm doing now, is forbidden until it can be safely determined who is real and who's a hologram. Which is why I had to steal parts to make and send this K-Link."

"Wade..." started Kim.

"I have to go," he suddenly said. "If you don't trust me, I mean, if you don't think I'm me, the K-Link can be deactivated by removing the back pins and disconnecting the battery. In case there are some K-11's still here, it might be the best way to keep from being traced." Wade looked sad for a moment and continued softly. "I'm sorry about ... well, everything. I let my ego get ahead of me and blamed you for it. I should have trusted you back then. We all should have." He glanced off in a direction Kim couldn't see on the screen. "I'll try contacting you again later. If you don't have the K-Link active then... I won't take it personally."

The screen went blank and was soon replaced with the time. Kim stared at the timepiece, trying to figure out what to think about what Wade had just said.

"You know," started Shego. "It's just like Global Justice to hole up in a time of crisis."

"They're not going to be looking for her," said Kim. "That's what he was trying to say."

"I thought he just said they were launching a massive investigation to _in order to_ look for her," said Shego.

"I believe he said they were looking for her at Global Justice," said Dr. Possible, reminding Kim and Shego of his presence. Kim nodded.

"Why would he tell you that?" asked Shego. "That's certainly not going to ease your troubles."

"He's hoping I'm going to find her," said Kim. She shook her head. "Or at least warning me that GJ wont."

"Well, how's that for friendship," spat Shego.

Kim just looked at the watch using it merely as a timepiece. "We have to head out soon to pick up Ron," she said. "I'm going to go change."

Kim nodded to everyone, then bounded up the stairs towards her room.

---( KP )---

For all the traveling she's done around the world, Kim hadn't really spent too much time in airports. The rides she'd gotten from friends or people she'd helped in the past often involved small landing strips or private jets from regional or military airports. Actually flying commercially was something she'd only done a few times on family trips and not at all in the last few years. She marveled at the order of it all.

Airports were famously cluttered places, constantly being credited with congestion, especially with the security restrictions getting tighter and tighter over the years. But statistically, they moved thousands if not millions of people a day, largely on time, and without too much instruction. People knew what was expected at an airport, even at security, and given the chaotic nature of her life right now, Kim found the rote procedures and droll attitudes somewhat comforting.

Unable to enter the "clean side", or the area of the airports with the gates, without tickets, Shego and Kim were casually perusing the small 'newsstand' store just before security. They had gotten there not too much earlier than the scheduled arrival of Ron's flight out of Charles de Gaulle, but since it was international, there would be a delay before he got out of customs. Shego flipped through beauty magazines while Kim somewhat watched the large flat panel screen displaying CNN.

Kim felt the news was... depressing. Not literally. Mostly talk about celebrities, immigration, and the EKG-tracing-shaped Dow Jones average, with just a few off-hand comments about the hideous things going on elsewhere in the world that most people insisted was 'normal.' Kim had gotten used to the type of news CNN broadcasted such that it didn't really bother her anymore. She'd been most places in the world where trouble brewed and she knew that the people who lived there didn't classify brutality as 'normal.' GJ had always been a good connection for unfiltered world events and after her break with the espionage agency she'd found a few good blog sites on the internet owned by ex-industry journalists that kept her in the loop.

No, the depressing thing about the news was that there wasn't, and probably wouldn't ever be, any mention of Allucinere or the things she'd done. Super villains and heroes did make the news when they struck, as did Kim herself back in the day, but Allucinere was... under the radar. She was a bit brash and reckless but she'd been brought up in the 'say nothing' world of Global Justice and had learned her lessons well. No major news outlets reported her initial rise, and if she was back to cause trouble again, it would be no different this time.

Only Kim herself, her dozen or so friends, and a GJ file would ever really know what happened to her and the file would have no means of recording Kim's pain and suffering. Her friends would sympathize, but they couldn't know. Nobody could ever really know except Kim herself. Who else could understand what she'd gone through to save the world?

Kim looked over at Shego and, somewhat empathically, she turned at the same moment to look back at her. She smiled at Kim's glance. First it was friendly, then, as she read Kim's face, it turned more genuine, softer, and nodded once.

Maybe she'd understand someday, Kim thought to herself. But first, Kim'd have to tell her what happened, and the very thought of it made her cringe. Another day, perhaps, after Christmas, they'll sit and she'll bare her most secret injury and see what Shego thinks then.

"Hrm," coughed a deep voice behind Kim. She turned, slightly startled, and saw Ben, the HenchCo guard, looming behind her.

"What's wrong?" asked Kim. She wasn't yet used to the pair of bodyguards shadowing her and Shego's every move, but she knew that he wouldn't have approached her unless something was up.

"Is that your friend?" asked Ben, motioning with his head towards security.

Kim turned and peered at the slowly moving throng of people leaving the clean side. She looked back and forth for several minutes before she finally saw him. He was dressed in a red 3-button shirt and dark olive kakis carrying a single dufflebag slung over his shoulder. His hair was cut neatly and styled in a slightly messy fashion that made it stick up in several directions but had recently become a popular style, if network TV is to be believed. All in all, Ron looked trendy, which was a surprising change for her trend-bucking friend.

"Yeah," Kim nodded to Ben. "How did you know?"

Ben frowned slightly. "He had his eyes focused on you."

Kim blinked. "You saw that from over in the food court?" Ben silently nodded. "You guys are pretty good."

The large man said nothing and then quietly retreated back to where his compatriot, Carl, was sitting. While Ben had his back to Kim, she noticed Carl always had and eye on her. Then when the other sat, they switched; Ben started watching and Carl looked away for a few minutes. Kim was impressed by their vigilance and felt bad they would probably not ever get to do much with their skill except watch her house during Christmas.

"Shego," Kim called, turning to look at the periodicals section. "He's here. Come on."

Shego dropped her magazine on the pile of similarly covered issues and the two started heading towards the exit from security. Kim waved to Ron who immediately got a worried look on his face but cautiously waved back.

"Ron!" said Kim, quickly stepping up to him as they got near. She hugged him once lightly. "Welcome back!"

"Hey there... Kim," said Ron slowly, his eyes locked on Shego the entire time. "Uhh... what is Shego doing here?"

"Oh, um," started Kim, stammering for a second. "It's kinda a long story but Shego and I are..." she felt her tongue lock up for some reason. Why was she getting all awkward now? "Uhh..." she stalled.

"Friends now," supplied Shego. "So try not to look at me too suspiciously."

Ron backed up slightly. "Woah, woah, woah," he said. "'Friends?' Whaddya mean, 'friends?' You're a bad guy!"

"Bad gal, actually," corrected Shego.

"Ron, Shego's been, or rather, she's ah... reforming." Kim finally finished a sentence.

"She's joining a church?" asked Ron.

"Not 'Reformed' you buff- err-- I mean," Shego stopped herself. "I'm trying to be good now and Kim's helping me. Like... ugh...a-a sponsor," she struggled through her words as if disgusted with herself.

"Oh," nodded Ron. "Well, hey, if you ever needed a model for good, Kim's definitely the one." He smiled awkwardly.

"Yeah," Shego looked away. "Aren't I lucky."

Kim looked at Shego slightly uncomfortable expression and felt terrible. Why had she had such a hard time telling Ron what was going on? If Kim had just spat it out Shego wouldn't have tried to cover for her and end up feeling awkward. Kim cursed silently at herself.

---( KP )---

Kim sat beside Ron at the Nacho Navel, a slightly more upscale restaurant to Bueno Nacho, the latter of which had collapsed in the wake of Dr. Drakken's Lil' Diablo bid for world domination. The menu was highly reminiscent of the former Bueno Nacho's Mexican fare, including a Naco-esque offering, but it wasn't fast food, which meant grab and good dining was not an option. Typically that wasn't a concern of Kim's, but looking at Shego across the table, slowly turning into a cauldron of rage at Ron's insistence that she not get 'too close' to Kim in case her old habits return was enough to cause the hero to worry when her lover would snap.

"One naco please, and two chimiritas," Ron announced to the waitress.

"Actually it's called a Nacho Pocket," said the waitress, a tall, thin girl with shoulder-length black hair and a nametag that read 'Skye.' "And an Enchirito."

"Please, lets not play games here," Ron said the waitress, motioning with hi hands. "Call it what you wish, but a naco by any other name is still a naco."

"Um..." Skye looked uncomfortably at her order pad and just scribbled silently. "And for you, miss?" she looked to Kim hopefully.

"Chicken fajitas," Kim said, to the relief of the waitress.

"Taco salad," said Shego when asked, then went back to scowling at Ron. Kim was worried about her, but had to admit, at least it wouldn't be unusual for her to be angry at Ron.

"Thanks," Skye said with a smile. "I'll have your appetizers right out." She turned and disappeared into the crowd of diners and wait staff.

"It's the one bad thing about Paris," commented Ron, then he paused. "Well, there a lot of bad things about Paris, but the relevant one is they just don't' know how to do Mexican."

"Aren't you like, a chef?" asked Shego, incredulous. "Here's an idea: make it yourself."

"Shego, clearly you don't understand where the soul of Mexican food is," explained Ron. "You can't make a serving for just one. The proper balance of flavor and texture comes from preparing dozens at once."

"That is possibly the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," said Shego. "You're advocating the _taste_ of fast food. _And_ you're a chef."

"It's the ingredients," started Ron. "The proper filling has to be mixed in large portions or the right elements of the vegetables and legumes don't combine to create the appropriate flavor."

"Let's talk about something else," Shego turned away. "I still want to be able to eat when my food comes."

"Right," nodded Kim. "So, uh, Ron, how's your classes been this year?"

"Oh, tres' fab," said Ron. "The restaurant management class I took was incredible. I never realized how much of a gamble an independent restaurant is. I feel bad that I didn't find some way to flip my Middleton Home Ec restaurant, it could have really taken off."

"Well, if you ever wanted to start again, I'm sure Mr. Barkin would gladly help," said Kim. "I don't think he ever looked pleased with you except in that class."

"Too true, KP," said Ron sagely. "Maybe I'll look him up once I'm through with college."

"You should," said Kim warmly.

"Yeah." Ron looked at Kim and smiled slightly but somewhat sad. Kim couldn't figure it out. "So," he suddenly said, turning his attention to the salsa and chips on the table. "What's been going on with you?"

Kim opened her mouth but wondered where to start. She looked at Shego who glanced back with a neutral expression. She shrugged slightly. "A lot," said Kim, in the end, trying to dodge the question.

"I know how that is," nodded Ron. "It all blurs together sometimes." He bit into a chip. "Life comes at you fast."

"Real fast," repeated Shego as she looked at Kim.

"Too fast," frowned Kim. She looked into Shego's eyes. She wasn't sure what she was doing, lying to Ron like this, and was hoping that Shego had some silent guidance to give. The green woman didn't have anything, or at least nothing she could communicate non-verbally.

"You can tell me you know," Ron suddenly said while digging through the broken chips for a full one. "I have talked to Wade."

Kim's mouth hung open. "You... know?" Kim said. "Why did you act like--"

Ron looked slightly her way with a serious look on his face. "I don't know if we're tight anymore," he said gesturing with a tortilla chip between them. "But I'd like to be, and I wanted to give you the chance to tell me when you're ready." He dipped the chip into the salsa. "But it looked like you were feeling more uncomfortable trying to decide whether to tell me or not, so I figure this way is better." He chomped down on his tortilla. "So, yeah, I talked to Wade, and I got the sitch."

"And..." Kim felt nervous but somehow slightly relieved at the same time. "You're okay with it?"

"Well, I don't know about 'okay'," said Ron with a frown. "But I'm here for you if you need me."

Kim smiled. "Oh, Ron," she leaned over and hugged him tightly and babbled. Ron put a hand on her back and patted her lightly. "I'm sorry for not telling you right away, I wasn't sure how you'd react. I was worried you'd think I was a freak or that you'd feel it was your fault or do something like attack Shego for stealing me away. I'm really sorry for thinking all those things though."

Ron put his hands on Kim's shoulders and moved her to look at her face. "I'd like to think that you'd give me more credit that that," Ron smiled. "'Attack Shego?' What blame does she have in all this?"

"Well, I wouldn't say she has no blame," said Kim. "I mean, well, it's kinda mutual really."

"Mutual?" asked Ron, sounding a little confused.

"Yeah, mutual," said Kim, surprised. "It's not like I forced myself on her or something. It was mutual."

"What was mutual?" asked Ron.

Kim frowned, unsure of what just happened. "Us getting together."

Ron blinked. "Us... meaning...?"

"Me and Shego of course," said Kim. "Are you alright? You're kinda blinking out on me."

Ron sat completely still for several moments then suddenly jerked and snapped his head at Kim. "You and Shego... what?" he asked as his voice took on a more manic tone.

Kim felt that twisting in her stomach again. "What were you just referring to before?"

"You and Shego... are...?" repeated Ron leaning slightly back away from Kim.

"What was it you heard from Wade?" insisted Kim, starting to panic.

"Are you ..." Ron started the stopped as looked slightly to the side. "My fault?" he whispered to himself, then spoke louder. "Are you dating Shego?"

Kim looked up at Ron like a deer in the headlights. She could only nod slowly. In return Ron looked mortified.

"How-- what could--?" he started, looking back and forth between Kim and Shego.

Kim reached out to touch his arm. "Ron, just calm down and let me expla--"

Ron jumped back at Kim's touch and stood up from the table, backing one step away. He looked between Kim and Shego before finally settling on Shego. "You ... You did something!" he announced. "Mind chips! Or-or emotion devices!"

Shego grit her teeth and turned to Ron with a scowl then paused and strangely changed her expression to a frown. Kim thought she looked almost vulnerable for a second. "I would never do anything like that to her," she said softly.

Ron stepped back a half step again, his jaw slack but his eyes staring right at Shego. He looked caught between anger and fear and finally settled on the latter.

He turned stiffly and quickly walked away.

"Ron!" Kim called out but to no avail. She closed her eyes and hung her head, feeling tears well up in her eyes. She sucked in air irregularly to keep from falling apart in the restaurant.

A tender hand touched her shoulder and she looked up to see Shego beside her, looking concerned. Kim threw her arms around her and sobbed a quietly as she could into Shego's shoulder.

In the busy restaurant, at prime lunch hour, nobody even noticed, except for the two burly HenchCo bodyguards sitting at the bar.

---( KP )---

"We gotta find him!" yelled Kim as Shego gently guided through the Nacho Navel her back to the car. "Talk to him or something!"

"Pumpkin," Shego said. "I think he just suffered a paradigm shift and isn't going to recover quickly. Give him time, he'll come back when he's ready to talk."

"But- but..." Kim stammered. "I think I hurt him."

"No doubt," nodded Shego. "But it was unavoidable. I'm not sure exactly what got hurt though, so I really don't think you should do anything brash until he comes back to tell us."

"But what if he doesn't come back?" pleaded Kim.

"Well, we have his clothes," commented Shego, motioning to the back of her Cadillac as they reached it. "I imagine he'll want those back at some point." Shego opened the passenger door for Kim. "Where's he staying, anyway?"

"His parents live nearby to mine," said Kim, sitting in the car, then waiting for Shego to walk around and sit behind the wheel. "I guess he's staying there, although, he really doesn't get along with his younger brother. Don't know where else he'd go."

"You mean, aside from your place," asked Shego.

"Well, yeah," nodded Kim. "It's always been like his second home." Kim looked into her lap. "Maybe even his first."

"Hrm," grumbled Shego as she started the car and pulled out of the lot. "We're not doing well with your old friends."

Kim nodded slightly.

"They'll come around if they care about you," continued Shego.

Kim nodded again.

"I think we're being followed."

Kim frowned. "What?" She looked up and over at Shego who was gazing into her rear view mirror with only intermittent glances at the traffic in front of her. Kim turned and looked back out of the car. "Who?"

"Couple of SUV's," said Shego, changing lanes. "Watch for them to follow me."

Kim studied the cars beyond their bumper. The road they were on was somewhat busy, she could see maybe a dozen cars behind her, none of which really stood out--

A pair of navy blue Ford Explorers suddenly changed lanes simultaneously to move behind them. Kim tried to see the drivers but the windows were just tinted enough that the mid-day sun was making it impossible to see inside. Kim turned around to sit normal again. "I don't think Allucinere would do this."

"I'll have to take your word for that," said Shego, beginning to weave between traffic to get some distance between them and their tail. "We just left that restaurant, in this traffic, I'm not sure if Ben and Carl are back there or not."

"What do they drive?" asked Kim.

"A silver Chrysler 300," said Shego.

Kim turned again and peered through the back trying to find any trace of the somewhat popular car. The prominence of SUVs made it hard to see more than a few cars back, especially from the lowered sedan that she and Shego were in. After a few minutes she turned around again. "I didn't see them. But the blue SUVs are gaining."

"I noticed," grumbled Shego. "I'll lose them in this side street up ahead then take the turnpike back to your parent's house."

"I just don't understand who would be following us," said Kim.

"Maybe you don't know Allucinere as well as you think," suggested Shego.

With a sharp twist of the wheel, they sped onto a much less traveled but narrower street between a couple of larger office buildings. Glancing behind them, Kim noticed the SUV's following in close pursuit.

"I don't think we're losing them," said Kim.

"We're not going to lose them on a straight street," said Shego, incredulous.

"Then why did we turn down here?"

Shego grinned and Kim noticed the parking garage coming up on the right. She blanched, then gripped the handle on the ceiling of the car so hard her knuckles turned white.

"I don't like this plan," said Kim. "Just for the record."

"Noted," nodded Shego then sped into the garage, blazing past the ticket booth, much to the surprise of the operator. Kim blinked as they quickly flew between the tight rows of cars then mounting a ramp to the second story.

"They're just going to wait for us downstairs," said Kim.

"I hope so," smiled Shego as they continued up past the second floor to the third before turning off the spiraling ramp. Kim looked around and noticed that the garage looked much larger on this floor than the previous two. As Shego drove across she realized that a second parking garage was connected to this one on this level to provide access to the upper levels of an office building with a restaurant in it.

The Cadillac crossed a short ramp between the two structures that housed the garages and then Shego began descending again, speeding around corners before finally exiting onto a different side street and turning back towards the major roads.

"See?" said Shego, flashing her teeth. "I told you I knew all the hiding spots in Middleton." She laughed once.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, another navy blue SUV pulled out in front of them and blocked the alley. Shego slammed on the breaks and was already putting the car into reverse when she looked behind her to see the original SUV coming down the street behind them. She stopped after only a few inches of backwards movement and stared out the windshield.

"Oookay," said Shego. "That was clever of them."

The SUVs opened their doors and many suited men poured out of each one, forming a row in front of Shego's car and then slowly approaching the sedan from the rear, pistols drawn. Kim looked back and forth between the two groups.

"I'm not really in the mood for getting shot again," she said looking through the side-view mirror at the approaching suit.

"I'll vaporize them if they touch you," Shego assured. A man with short, jet black hair and sunglasses walked up to Shego's side of the car and tapped gently on her windows with his gun.

Looking completely stoic, she lowered the glass. "Ms. Possible," said the man in a slightly nasal voice. "Ms. Shego, can I ask you to step out of the car and come with us."

"You certainly can _ask_," said Shego.

"Who are you people?" asked Kim.

"We represent someone who needs to talk to you," said Nasal Voice. "Come quietly and you'll be back and on your way shortly."

"What 'someone?'" asked Shego, but receiving no answer. Kim looked at her and at the men surrounding her.

"Quickly now," said Nasal Voice.

Kim sighed and opened her door. Shego looked at her alarmingly then, seeing the resignation in Kim's eyes, deflated and exited the sedan herself. The suited soldiers ushered them past the front of the car and behind the SUV that was blocking their path. Beyond the barricade, a long black stretched limo was parked with a license plate that read "SSTHE2ND."

Kim frowned, she had a sinking feeling what this was about. They were pushed towards the limo. A man wearing a nicer suit and wearing black gloves opened the door to the back of the limo and motioned towards it's black depths.

"Please," said the chauffer.

Kim ducked and stepped inside. She was stunned at how ornate the limo was, decorated and styled like the inside of a small club, despite there only be enough room to move around on your knees. On the opposite side of the limo sad a muscular man in a white suit, half covered in shadows. His hand motioned to the leather bench on one side of the car and Kim moved in to sit where instructed. Shego entered behind her and did the same.

"What is this about, Junior?" demanded Kim once the exterior door was closed.

The man in the shadows leaned forward displaying Senior Senior Junor's amused face. He had not changed physically since Shego and she had seen him last spring but there was something about his eyes, Kim thought, that seemed a little more hollow, a little more tired.

"Kim Possible," said Junior. "When I'm at my lowest, I always end up turning to you."

"You don't do the mastermind role well," said Shego. "Cut the act."

"Very well," said Junior, leaning back again. "I'm in trouble."

"Well if you weren't before, you certainly are now," said Shego. Kim didn't look but put her hand on Shego's leg. The latter sighed. "Go ahead."

"Something's been going down in my company," continued Junior. "Someone's stealing from me. Not just a little, but a lot. From the inside."

"I'm not going to do you dirty work, Junior," said Kim.

"Or protect your dirty money," added Shego.

"I'm entirely legit, Shego," said Junior. "Even ... even dad's money was earned fairly. He just found creative ways to use it."

"Even so, why are you telling us?" asked Kim. "I don't do corporate crime. And we do not have a friendly relationship, Junior. Last time we met you were holding Shego in chains."

"More like shackles," said Shego.

"Shackles," repeated Kim.

"Over a billion dollars was stolen," said Junior.

"Boo hoo," mocked Shego.

"The person we traced it back to was confirmed to have been at dinner at the same time she was wiring the money from my corporate offices. Video cameras confirm her presence in both locations." Junior looked at Kim. "She was definitely being impersonated and the disguise was flawless."

Kim opened her mouth but said nothing.

"How much was stolen?" asked Shego, seriously.

"1.125 billion dollars," replied Junior. "You know this sounds familiar, Kim."

Kim nodded slowly. Junior leaned forward again to stare into Kim's eyes.

"I'm telling you this because if she's back, then you're probably the only one who'll be able to stop her." Junior frowned. "As much as I hate you for starting this, you ended it last time. Maybe this time you can do it before she breaks someone's mind in two."

Kim closed her mouth to a thin line, looking out the side of the limo. "Do you know where the money went?"

Junior reached into his blazer pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He held it out for her. "This is the account number the funds were transferred to. It's a private account in Zurich, so I haven't been able to trace it. You might have some better resources at your command than me, however."

Kim took the paper and deliberately pushed it into her jeans pocket. "Junior," she started.

"When this goes public, after the new year," Junior interrupted. "It will be a significant blow to my reputation and destroy the value of my stock. More than simply a billion dollars will be lost to me in the end. I don't care about the people she hurts, Kim Possible, and nothing can save my shares now. I just want her taken down." He picked up a glass with a brown, translucent liquid in it and drank it down. "Don't bother me with anything else. Certainly not meaningless words about my father."

Junior tapped his glass twice against the window of the limit and suddenly the door on the opposite end of the cabin opened.

"Lets try not to meet again in another six months," Junior said, turning in the shadows to look away from Kim and Shego.

Kim nodded mostly for her own benefit and then started crawling towards the door. After a moment, Shego turned and followed suit. She had just reached the door when Junior spoke again.

"I understand she tamed you," Junior said.

Shego froze by the door and looked back over her shoulder. Kim stood just outside the limo, but close enough to hear. "I've found more rewarding things than trying to take over the world," said Shego.

"I'll miss your edge," Junior said. "You were the only one who could get me to enjoy crime. It's just as well, now, though."

"What happened to your old man?" asked Shego. "I heard he... ended it himself."

"Know what a PH device is?" asked Junior.

"No."

"Ask your girlfriend," said Junior. "She knows more than any of us do."

Shego frowned but nodded, then exited the limo.

---( KP )---

Kim laid on her bed with her phone tucked in the crook of her neck, flipping through a magazine while Shego sat nearby at Kim's computer, searching the internet.

"I'm not sure it can really be weirder than mine," said Kim on the phone. Beth, her longtime roommate, was on the other end gossiping about her inter-semester break.

"Are you sure?" asked Beth. "Both my parents and their spouses are here which is a recipe for disaster on its own, not to mention one of my weekend flings showing up announced, adding fuel to the flame." She sighed. "This is why I never come home."

"Well, its Christmas," said Kim. "When even the least friendly people gather around to make insincere remarks."

"Don't I know it," grumbled Beth. "So how are things with you and your honey?"

"I'm sure if she heard you say that, she'd melt you," said Kim.

"Say what?" asked Shego, not turning from the computer.

"Nothing," said Kim. "Anyway, there's a lot of ... unexpected things happening, actually. I'm not sure what to think yet."

"Hero stuff?" asked Beth.

"Actually, yes," admitted Kim.

"Really?" Beth sounded more interested now. "I thought you were out of that biz."

"I'm really, really trying to be, believe me." Kim rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. "But it's just one of those things."

"You're in for a day, you're in for life?" asked Beth.

"Yeah, either that or you turn villain, which is looking more tempting by the hour."

"I can tutor you, if you want," said Shego. "Apparently, I'm pretty good at it."

"I'm not being serious," said Kim to Shego. "But if I was you know you'd be the first one I'd call, Sheeg."

"Yeah, yeah," Shego waved.

"Look at you two, only been serious for a few months and you already sound like a long time couple," said Beth. "You could have given my parents lessons."

"I'm not a very good role model," Kim said with a tired voice.

"You're better than you think," said Beth, softly. "Anwyay, I've got to get going. See if I can't lose this semi-stalker and get my family to talk to each other without yelling. Ah the labors of an only child."

"Have fun with that," said Kim. "Talk to you later!"

"Bye."

Kim hung up then sighed afterwards. She missed Beth. Her roommate had been a large part of her life since entering college and it was strange to have to go so many weeks without seeing her face to face. After the new year, classes would start again and they'd all get back together, so it wasn't like it would be forever. Still, it was comforting to talk to normal people every now and then.

"What are your plans for the future?"

Kim blinked then propped herself up on her arm to see Shego staring at her. She'd turned the chair to face Kim and was looking... somewhat concerned as she stared at her lover.

"What do you mean? How 'future' are we talking about?"

"I dunno," said Shego. "Very future? Years or so into the future?"

Kim grimaced. "I hadn't really thought about it," she admitted. "I'm having a hard enough time as it is getting through the present."

"The future will be the present soon enough," said Shego. "I thought you'd be the type to have a plan with a career and number of children all planned out."

"Well, that latter one will probably be hard now," said Kim. "And as far as a career goes, I kinda always thought I'd go into some form of law enforcement like GJ or maybe FBI until it all collapsed around me."

"Oh," said Shego.

"Why?" asked Kim.

"Nothing," Shego said. "Just... uh, just curious."

"Does it bother you?" asked Kim.

"What? No... oh, no, definitely not." Shego looked back towards the computer. "I just wonder how many of our old 'friends' are going to come back to haunt us." She lowered her head. "If they'll ever stop coming after us."

"You don't think we have a choice." Kim closed her eyes. "I'm not sure I disagree with you."

"Do you want one?" asked Shego. "A choice?"

Kim opened her eyes to see Shego staring attentively at her. Kim slowly nodded. Suddenly her watch started to chirp and vibrate. Kim looked down at the face to see another 'INCOMING' message displayed. She tapped the screen twice.

Wade's face appeared. "Kim!" he sounded worried. "Oh, thank god you kept it on."

"What is it, Wade?" asked Kim. "What's going on?"

"Have you seen Jim and Timothy tonight?" asked Wade.

Kim raised an eyebrow in confusion. "They were here a while ago," she said. "But they went out to work on their 'secret project,' whatever it is. They'll probably be back later since they missed dinner."

"When did they leave?"

"Why do you care?" asked Kim, feeling anxious at Wade's insistence. "What's going on?"

"I didn't mean to hide it from you," stared Wade. "We just figured the less people that knew the easier it'd be to hide from the people we really wanted to keep it a secret from. Not that you'd be one of those people, of course."

"What?" asked Kim. "What are you saying? What does this have to do with the Tweebs?"

"They're not working on some 'secret project'," said Wade. "They were working with me. I couldn't let the internal GJ investigative team know, but more importantly we were trying to keep Allucinere from finding out."

"With you?" asked Kim. "Then, they should be with you right now then."

"That's right," said Wade. "And that's the problem. They're not. They should have been hours ago and they never showed. When did they leave you?"

"Over four hours ago!" said Kim, worried. "You mean you have no idea where they are?"

"They're supposed to be here with me!" yelled Wade.

"So where are they?" asked Kim.

"That's what I'm trying to say, Kim," explained Wade. He frowned. "I think they're missing."

She froze in shock.

"Missing?"

That was when Kim summarily freaked out.


	12. Silent Night, December 21st, 5 of 9

----------------

_Disney's_ Kim Possible in

**A Period of Silence: **

**SILENT NIGHT**

By Adam Leigh

Day 4

----------------

**DECEMBER 21ST**

The sun rising was not the blessing it had felt like just the morning before. Even as the sun's rays pushed through the clouds, reflected off the gently falling snow, and blanketed the earth in golden rays, Kim was frantically praying it would just go back down again. The sun coming up meant it was a new day, and a new day meant it wasn't the previous night, and if it wasn't the previous night, it meant the Tweebs hadn't come back to sleep at all.

And that meant that they might really have been kidnapped.

Kim paced endlessly on the front porch of her house while Shego sat nearby and watched. Kim couldn't stop moving for a number of reasons. She couldn't go inside or else it would mean her searching all night had ended in failure. Sure, it wasn't night anymore but if she went through that door it would mean the she was giving up on her search and she couldn't do that. Pacing also helped keep her mind from imagining what terrible things could be happening to her brothers, once she stopped her mind tended to go into overdrive and she couldn't take that.

Additionally, she was tired and freezing, the combination of which would mean the moment she stopped she'd probably get hypothermia and collapse from exhaustion and she _had to keep looking_.

Shego was sitting on a bench nearby with her hands in her coat and silently following Kim's pacing back and forth with her head. She wasn't nearly as frantic as Kim, which irritated the hell out of her. Why didn't she realize how serious a situation this was? Did she not care about Kim's feelings? Or just her family?

"Why are you just sitting there?!" Kim finally exploded. Then paused, realizing that nothing she'd just thought she had said out loud.

"Because you haven't told me to do anything else?" offered Shego. "Also, pacing is not really my style."

"Don't you care? My family is missing!"

"Of course," said Shego, somewhat flippantly. "But we checked their usual hang-outs, called their university, talked to Ben and Carl to see if they saw anything, and even had the nerdlinger try to locate them. I'm fresh out of ideas that don't involve illegality."

"Don't call Wade 'nerdlinger!'" Kim lashed out, desperate to feel some control. "He's the only person at GJ actually doing anything."

"Not even the police will do anything at this point, Princess," said Shego, frowning. "Missing persons aren't missing persons until 24 hours have passed. Which wouldn't be until 3pm today."

"We can't just wait around for the police to realize someone missing has been kidnapped! They could be in trouble right now!"

"We don't know that," rationalized Shego. "They could just be out on some other super secret project and forgot to call in."

"How can you just... sit there?" Kim yelled. She felt like her skin was crawling all over her body.

"There's nothing else I can do which will help them," said Shego. "Unless you want me to start talking to some of my villain contacts and put out a bounty on their capture or something." Shego grimaced. "They might get into more trouble that way, though. And even then we probably wouldn't get results for day or two."

"You're just... too calm," sighed Kim. "It's bothering me."

"You're usually more rational than this," Shego pointed out. "That's bothering me. I don't recall you getting this worked up when I was captured." She pouted.

"I didn't know you were captured," said Kim. "You ran away."

"Same difference."

"No, it's not the same." Kim clenched her hands into fists then released them. "I know you can take care of yourself."

"But you don't think your brothers can?"

"They're..." Kim struggled. She moved over and plopped down next to Shego on the bench and sighed. "They just kids. They shouldn't be mixed up in my troubles."

"You were just a kid when you started," said Shego. "Everyone has to grow up sometime."

"Nobody should have to face Allucinere, though," said Kim. "I don't want to think about worst case scenarios, but I after what Junior said, I have to believe she could be behind this. And if she has them..." She just shivered.

Shego held Kim's hand softly and was silent for several moments. Then softly, she said, "What's a PH device?"

Kim looked up at Shego's face, which was oddly expressive. She seemed caught between hurt and determined, as if she wasn't sure which one was right. "You're ready to know?" Shego nodded. Kim sighed again. "Hell."

"Hell?" asked Shego. "What do you mean?"

"It's your worst fears come to life," said Kim. "Fears you didn't even know you had, twisted and come alive to torture you." She hung her head and shook it. "It will ruin you."

"And maybe those around you too."

Kim looked up suddenly and saw Ron standing on the porch, his hands in his pockets, standing casually. He was wearing a large winter coat with a knitted cap and glanced once at Kim and Shego's hands before looking uncomfortably away.

"Ron," said Kim, feeling relieved that he came back.

Then the wheels in her head flew off the axel.

"What did you do?" Kim suddenly growled, her expression darkening.

"Huh?" Ron's eyes went wide and he looked back and forth between Kim and Shego. "What?"

"You showed up right before the Tweebs went missing," Kim said, standing with her fists at her sides.

"The Tweebs are missing?" asked Ron, surprised.

"You did something to them," announced Kim, stepping slowly towards Ron.

Shego stood up suddenly and moved beside her. "Woah, hold off there, Pumpkin," she said. "You don't know what you're saying."

"Who are you?!" yelled Kim.

"Wha? I-I'm me! I'm Ron!" The blonde stepped back cautiously. "What happened to Jim and Tim?"

"You're tired, princess," Shego said. "You're not thinking straight. Tragedy is the time when you need friends, not enem--"

"Give them BACK!" yelled Kim as she lunged at Ron. The two fell back onto the lawn sending a cloud of snow up into the air as they struggled.

"Hay, wait! KP!!" yelled Ron as they grappled. Kim had managed to grip him by the collar of his coat and was holding him aggressively.

"Where did you take my brothers?" screamed Kim.

"I don't have your brothers!" cried Ron.

"Liar!" Kim wound up to slam Ron into the ground when suddenly a pair of strong arms grabbed her from behind, pinning her own arms to her sides. Kim struggled as she lost her grip on Ron who fell to the ground on his butt.

"Let me go!" yelled Kim, flailing around wildly.

"This is for your own good princess," said Shego, tightening her grip.

"Kim," said Ron getting up and approaching them. "It's me, I'm not Allucinere."

But Kim was too far gone to listen and kept struggling wildly.

"Kim, how can I prove--UGK!"

Kim's foot randomly connected with Ron's chin and knocked him down and into unconsciousness.

Kim looked down at his still form, suddenly sobering.

"Ron?"

---( KP )---

Kim's mother held an icepack wrapped in a towel against Ron's jaw inside the Possible kitchen. "Just like that," she said.

Ron raised his hand to hold the pack in place as Judy removed her hand. He flinched as it moved slightly against his skin, rubbing against the bruise. He looked up at the crowd.

Kim was standing on the other side of the kitchen, looking down and generally ashamed while her Nana sat nearby and Shego stood beside Judy, studying the wound. She could hear her father on the phone in the living room.

"She clocked you pretty good," said Shego, putting a hand to her chin. "I thought you had, like, monkey ninja powers."

"It's not very reliable," said Ron, slightly muffled, then winced. "Ow..."

"Ever get any formal training on it?" asked Shego. Ron shrugged and then shook his head. "Hmm..."

"Kimmie, dear," said Kim's father. "I don't suppose you want to come over here and apologize to Ronald, do you?"

Kim slowly forced herself to walk across the kitchen and move beside Ron. He watched her suspiciously and tried not to show his muscles tensing in anticipation of another strike. Kim noticed his reaction and felt a hundred times worse.

"I'm so sorry, Ron," Kim pleaded. "I... I don't know what got over me."

Ron looked at her carefully, frowning. Kim continued. "I'm really worried about the Tweebs and... I haven't slept since I found out they were missing. I'm not very trustworthy at the moment. I shouldn't have taken it out on you though. It was really stupid of me."

Ron hesitated for a moment then looked downwards, nodding. "Aohm noh, hobong ha goo wek."

"What?" asked Kim.

Ron removed the ice pack and tried to talk more deliberately around the swelling. "I'm not having a good week," he managed to enunciate.

Kim weakly smiled. "Tell me about it."

Kim's father walked in. "I just got off the phone with the police," he said. "They agreed to put Jim and Timothy on the missing persons list early, but the warned me that if they're hiding in the attic again he'll arrest them this time." Her father paused, mid-step. "Speaking of which..." He turned and left the kitchen again.

Kim shook her head.

"What happened?" asked Ron, having removed the ice pack again. Judy 'tsk'ed and moved his hand back to Ron's jaw.

"It'll minimize the swelling," Judy said.

"Iff noth healp'ng mooch," complained Ron.

"We're not sure," said Kim, answering Ron's earlier question. "Jim and Timothy were supposed to be meeting Wade at a workplace in Middleton but they never got there. Nobody's seen them since yesterday afternoon and Shego and I turned the workplace inside out for clues and came up empty."

"Their car is missing too," said Shego. "Which is just about the only traceable thing we've got. The nerdli-- uh, Wade is working on trying to find it on the traffic and intersection cameras. But he said it could take many more hours before he's through."

"And if their car was dumped or they drove on side streets it won't show up at all," added Kim.

"Yuuf t'ink ish Maya?" asked Ron.

Kim nodded. "I don't want it to be her, but she broke out of her GJ hospital room last month and we just heard from Junior yesterday that it's possible she stole a great deal of money from him. It's possible she's trying to repeat what she did two years ago."

"What did she try to do last time?" asked Shego.

"Take over all of GJ," answered Kim.

"..."

"Yeah, she didn't set her sights low," said Kim. "You'd be more stunned if you knew how close she got."

"Did she try and kidnap you or your family last time?" asked Shego.

Kim shook her head. "No, not last time. But she was still kind of... worshipping me right up until the end." Kim frowned. "At least, I think she was."

"Is it likely that she really has your brothers then?"

Kim looked pained and glanced at her mother who appeared uncomfortable as well. "I can't say," said Kim. "I have a lot of enemies, but, as far as I can remember, the only one to ever kidnap a member of my family before was Drakken." Kim looked at Shego. "He's not around, is he?"

Shego shrugged. "I'm sure he'd try to contact me if he was up to something. He's still probably crying to his death rays. Although that kidnapping thing was done without me, if we're thinking about the same thing." Shego looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'll try and find him, just in case."

Kim nodded. "That might not be a bad idea." Shego turned to go.

"Wait," Nana said, rather suddenly. Everyone turned to her. "You should set up a passphrase."

"Paafraines?" asked Ron.

"It's a simple but generally effective means of routing out impostors," explained Nana. "You see it in old spy movies all the time."

"Oh, like, 'The dove flies at dawn,' or 'the rooster crows three times?" asked Shego.

"Something like that," said Nana. "For your purposes, you'd best stick with a single, obscure word."

Shego rubbed her chin. "Paradigm," she said.

Kim nodded. "Paradigm."

"Remember to change the word next time you meet," Nana said as Shego headed out of the room. She looked to Kim. "Avoid related words, too. Too easy to guess."

"Gotcha," said Kim. She looked up for a second then turned to look out the window towards the street where a large blue SUV with tinted windows was parked. "I better set up a passphrase with Ben and Carl."

"Hoo?" asked Ron.

"Oh, right," said Kim. "My two bodyguards. Shego arranged for them from HenchCo."

"Henf Bo?" said Ron, wide eyed.

"Shego works for them now," explained Kim. "I didn't mention that before?"

Ron shook his head enthusiastically.

"Well, she works for Hench Co," shrugged Kim.

Ron sighed.

Nana sipped the rest of her tea from her cup and then stood. "I might know some people who can help," she said. "Let me make some calls."

"Thanks Nana," said Kim.

"Thanks nothing," Nana replied. "You're all my grandchildren."

Kim smiled.

"I'll go get your father from the attic," said Judy, patting Kim on the shoulder. "Then we'll call around the neighborhood."

Kim nodded. "Oh, wait," she said suddenly. She pointed at her mother. "Er.. 'purloin.'"

Her mother raised an eyebrow curiously but nodded all the same. Kim looked to her Nana. "Savant," Kim said. Her Nana approved.

Kim looked to Ron as the two older women left. "Caliper," she said. Ron nodded.

"Whaf ka--" Ron started then removed the ice pack again. "What can I do?" he asked.

Kim opened her mouth then stopped herself and sat down opposite Ron at the table. "Talk to me," she said.

Ron blinked. "That could be hard," he said, pointing at his cheek.

"I'm really sorry about that," she said.

Ron nodded. "What do you want to talk about?"

"You came back," Kim said, softly.

Ron nodded, looking to the side for a few moments. Kim reached over and took his hand, the one not holding the ice pack.

"Hey," she said. She leaned to the side to see his face.

Ron eventually looked up at his and Kim's hands then up at her face again. "I--I didn't handle that well, did I?" he said.

"I sort of ambushed you with it," Kim said with a crooked smile. "At least that's how Shego described it."

"Shego," Ron repeated, looking back down at their hands. "You really ... do care about her, right?"

Kim nodded.

"And she really has feelings for you...?" Ron asked.

Again, Kim answered in the affirmative.

"She's not just playing you or something to trick you into lowering you guard so she could unleash an army of zombie mutant bulldogs on the world, right?"

"Ron," Kim said, sounding disappointed in him.

"I just gotta check these things," explained Ron. "Or no one else will."

Kim sighed. "It's all real, Ron. Me and Shego. It probably seems completely impossible, and I would have agreed just a year ago but today..." she trailed off.

"Love?" asked Ron weakly.

Slowly, Kim nodded. "Yeah, I love her." She looked at Ron's painful expression. "But you're important to me too! You'll always be my best friend in the whole world, Ron. You gotta believe that."

Ron nodded.

"And I'll always love you like a brother," she added.

"Like family," Ron said.

"Yeah," agreed Kim. "Family."

Ron hung his head for a minute, saying nothing while Kim just held his hand and worried he'd run again.

After that minute, though, he picked his head up and smiled warmly at her. "On that day, when you came back from what Maya did to you," he said. "I thought I'd lost you forever." He changed his grip to hold Kim's hand tightly. "I'm just thankful we can still be friends."

Kim quickly embraced him in a hug. "Forever," said Kim, cheerfully. She felt relieved that in this terrible, terrible day, at least one thing was looking up.

---( KP )---

The large figure loomed in the doorway, almost entirely blocking the light from the midday sun. Kim blinked at first as the contrast from the light streaming in from the corners made it impossible to see more than a shadow of person but as she adjusted to the brightness, she saw a more recognizable figure.

"What's wrong, Ben?" asked Kim as she motioned for him to come in. He did so and she closed the door behind him. "Where's Carl?"

The HenchCo security guard reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a handful of small metal clips. He held them out to Kim.

"These are high range electronic tags," he said deliberately. "Shego asked me to get them."

"Tags?" asked Kim, confused.

"Tracers," clarified Ben. "If someone else goes missing we can use these to find them."

Kim was conflicted whether she should feel angry that she'd hadn't had access to these before people went missing or happy that at least this way they can keep anyone else from danger. She chose the latter, for Ben's sake.

"Thank you," she said with a smile. "Oh, we should set a passphrase while you're here."

Ben frowned then looked thoughtful. "Polyester," he said.

"Polyester?" asked Kim. For some reason Kim didn't think the word fit with Ben, but she realized she didn't know him at all really apart from his job. "All right," she finally agreed.

"The FBI are here," Ben said as headed back towards the door and opened it.

"FBI?" asked Kim. She ran to the window and looked out. Sure enough, a black sedan was out front next to Ben's SUV. A suited man was getting out of the car. "How do you know he's FBI?"

"They always drive those ugly cars," said Ben. "Call if you need help, we're always watching."

Kim thought that sounded kinda creepy but it was the intention that counted. "Thanks."

Ben left through the front door just moments before the agent finally came up the walk. Kim stared at the man as he approached. He was wearing a simple black suit with a white shirt and grey tie and stood about six feet tall, enough to tower over Kim much like Ben. But while Ben had a rough appearance, the man drawing near was much more chiseled with a slight 5 o'clock shadow, a squat nose and cool blue eyes beneath very short brown hair. He looked to be in his mid forties.

"Ms. Possible," said the man reaching the door. He held out a small leather holder with his FBI badge inside. The small print identified the man as Elliot Gibson, to which he introduced himself as.

"I'm Special Agent Gibson, with the FBI Missing Persons unit," said Agent Gibson. "I'd like to help out anyway I can."

Kim smiled and held out her hand. "Thanks for coming," said Kim. Elliot shook her hand firmly then released after exactly five seconds. "Please come in," Kim waved.

The man nodded and entered. He took a few steps into the house then paused entirely. Kim looked at him like he was a jigsaw puzzle then leaned to see past him to see her Nana standing in the room facing him.

"Elliot!" said Nana. She held out a hand as she walked up to him.

"Captain," Agent Gibson said, stiffening. He moved to salute then stopped and shook Nana's hand. "Sorry. Old habit."

"I know," smiled Nana. "I'm glad you could come."

"Nana?" asked Kim. "What's... going on?"

"Dear me, sorry, Kim." Nana motioned towards the FBI agent. "This is Elliot, he was a private, first class, when I was a captain in the marines." She looked at the agent with an arched brow. "He was great kid but nearly got us killed in Cyprus during the pull out."

"That wasn't my fault," said Elliot. "We were ordered directly into that firefight, I just followed navigation."

"I know," said Nana, slapping him on the back. "I you know I wouldn't have traded you in Cambodia for anyone. Cleanest shot in the whole unit."

"Not better than you," Gibson said modestly.

"But... you're FBI?" asked Kim.

He nodded. "I joined the FBI after leaving the marines. Captain Possible kept in touch after she retired."

"Just call me Leslie, dear," Nana said.

"Leslie," Elliot repeated with a nod. "She knows I work in Missing Persons, and asked if I could give my opinion on your situation."

"Wow," said Kim. "Do you know a lot of FBI agents, Nana?"

"Not many," shrugged Nana. "Although I do know the current--"

"Captain," said Elliot, hastily.

"It's classified," Nana said.

"Oh, come on, I work with Global Justice!" said Kim.

"Actually, that's why I can't take this case on officially," said Elliot, looking to Nana. "The FBI has a strict hands-off policy when it comes to Global Justice and anyone related to them." He turned to Kim. "I'm afraid we don't particularly condone espionage agencies."

"Well, I don't really like them right now either," she agreed. "So, what's your take on this?"

"I haven't had time to look around yet," said Elliot. " I'll do my best to help out the local police in their search, but I have to say -- and I mean no offense -- you have too many enemies, Ms. Possible."

"You're telling me," said Kim.

"I mean, it will take some time to narrow down a list of suspects to investigate, and even then, if this is someone specific to your brothers, we'll have little to go on until we find hard trace evidence."

Kim slumped. "I figured." She looked up. "Thanks for your help though."

"Anything for my old captain," said Elliot.

"Ahem," sounded Nana.

"Leslie," added the agent.

---( KP )---

As the sun lowered in the sky, Kim stared at the clock. Three o'clock. The arbitrary twenty-four hour mark, not that it mattered much anymore since her father and Agent Gibson got everyone moving early. Still, Kim felt the weight of the hour. For a whole day her brothers had not been seen nor heard from. It crushed her.

"KP," Ron said softly, standing on the staircase into her room.

Kim looked away from the digital display and turned to look at Ron. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Agent Gibson and your parents are going to the police station to make statements, they wanted to know if we were going to come."

Kim closed her eyes. "Things were so much simpler when villains only tried to take over the world."

"Things were simpler when our villains were petty," added Ron, walking over to sit on the bed. "Not like any of Drakken's plans were overly complex either, stealing heavily guarded gizmos by busting in and destroying everything in sight. Leaves an easy trail to follow."

Kim nodded. "I'd better stay here, in case Shego comes back. If you want..."

"It's better we stay in groups," said Ron, shaking his head. "Harder to infiltrate and kidnap that way." He stood up again. I'll go let the 'rents know."

"Thanks."

Ron descended the stairs again, leaving Kim with nothing save the clock to look at. 3:05, it read.

The phone rang, breaking Kim from her trance. She ran over to her desk and grabbed it. "Hello?" she said, urgently.

"Kim? This is Shego," the voice on the other end said. After a moment she added, "Paradigm." The codeword. Kim could trust it was her.

"Shego! Where are you? You've been gone all day!" asked Kim.

"It's not like Drakken left me a forwarding address!" snapped Shego. "I had to find him first. Actually, no, first I had to find a jet, then I had to find him."

"A jet?" asked Kim.

"Drakken has a few lairs lying around, mostly destroyed, but the one in Middleton had my jet in it. After that I checked for any of the hideouts that still had equipment that could receive a call. That's how I found him."

Kim blinked. "So you found Drakken?"

"..."

"Shego?"

"Sort of," she said softly.

"What's wrong? Where are you?" Kim felt nervous.

"I'm at a hospital."

Kim's stomach turned. "A h-hospital? Are you okay?" Her voice turned urgent.

"I'm fine," assured Shego. "It's Drakken." She paused. "Something's happened to him. He's been attacked. Some sort of device was attached to his eyes."

"A device..." Kim repeated, her voice hollow.

"I pulled it off him but the damage had been done. He looks like he's been ... mind wiped or something," said Shego. "Traumatized."

"Do you have the device?" asked Kim, almost too afraid to hear the answer.

"Sort of," said Shego. "The damn thing came after me when I pulled it off Drakken so I had to... melt it a little."

"Come home," Kim said quickly. "Come home now."

"I'm okay, princess, it's Drakken that's in bad shape."

"Come home," Kim repeated, urgently.

"..."

"Sheeg?" Kim held the phone tight against her face. "Please?"

"I'm on my way," said Shego. She established a new passphrase and then hung up.

Kim looked at the phone, willing her hand to stop shaking. She was stronger than this, she would have to be.

Or it would end worse than last time.

---( KP )---

"Okay, you're going to have to explain this to me nerdlinger--"

"Shego," Kim warned Shego again, for like, the tenth time today.

"--_Wade_, because I don't get how GJ loses one of it's own during a _lockdown_."

Kim had removed her K-link and now Shego, Kim, and Ron were staring around it while it sat on Kim's desk in her room. Shego had just gotten back a few minutes earlier, just after dusk, and had had been in a mood ever since.

"Dr. Director wasn't part of the lockdown," said Wade, looking evasive.

"How could that be?" asked Kim. "She was the one Allucinere impersonated, would she be the one under the most investigation?"

"To be honest, I'm not really privy to those sorts of decisions," said Wade. "I'm not even a field agent, I just work in research. I can only tell you what I've heard from the other scientists here."

"Well that's convenient," said Shego, frustrated. "I don't suppose you want to tell us how you were working with Kim's brothers while under lockdown either, huh?"

"Actually, I was only virtually there," said Wade. "Jim has some pretty good volumetric holographic technology himself. Not on par with Allucinere but good for working on a team."

"Wade," asked Ron, having said little since Wade called a few minutes earlier. "Why Dr. Director? And why Dr. Drakken? Does Maya have something against people with doctorates?"

"I seriously doubt that, Ron," said Wade. "And I'm not sure Dr. Director has really been kidnapped, just that she's missing. But I think it's more to do with people being close to Kim or related to Allucinere's earlier downfall." Wade sighed. "I'm sorry Kim, but it seems like she has it out for you this time."

"I can't keep my family locked up here AND search for my brothers," said Kim. "You have to give me something. Some means of protecting us."

"I've been working on something here, with just a few of the other researchers," Wade said quietly. "It might be able to disrupt a personal luminocodec when finished."

"When is it gonna be finished, then?" asked Shego.

"We're still testing it now," said Wade. "Once we get it calibrated right, I'll find a way to send you a couple. It's a very specific harmonic signal that affects the Luminocodec, we've been at it for days with little success."

"Isn't GJ going to do anything about these missing people?" asked Ron.

"It's complicated, Ron. I don't what the details are, but I think GJ is worried that while Allucinere was here, she arranged for the disruption of a lot of the European offices' surveillance infrastructure. It could mean she's somewhere there, or it could just be a decoy. Only a couple hundred GJ agents worldwide have been cleared to return to duty and they're stretched thin trying to restore operations in the Western theatre."

"Europe?" asked Kim. She stood up and ran to her dresser, picking up a small piece of paper and returning. "I forgot in all the chaos yesterday, we ran into Junior and he gave us these swiss bank numbers." Kim held up the paper for the watch, which briefly emitted a green light. "Junior thinks that Allucinere was the one who transferred the money, if you can trace the money, we might find out where she went."

Wade looked off the edge of the screen on the watch as he typed. "I'll see what I can find out, but our computer network is mostly down which means my typical methods of tracing bank records is out. I might be able to pull some strings and get one of the cleared agents to do it though. I'll let you know."

"Thanks, Wade," said Kim.

The screen on the K-link went dark and then returned with the time.

"That device he was talking about will be good to root out spies and misinformation," said Shego. "But your family needs protection."

"I don't think I'll ever convince them to carry weapons, Sheeg," said Kim.

"Not enough time to learn kung-fu, either," said Ron.

"I'll call Hench, see if I can arrange some more protection for the area," Shego said. "Aside from the people living in this house, who else do you know that we should look out for?"

"Maybe Ron's family?" said Kim. She looked at Ron. "It's possible if she can't get to you she'll try for your folks, like she did with my brothers."

"Okay, the Stoppables," nodded Shego. "Who else?"

"Who qualifies?" asks Kim. "The whole city knows me in one way or another."

Shego sighed. "Just tell me who you would worry about most if they were kidnapped. That seems to be the easiest way to narrow this down."

"Around here, all I can think of Monique, I suppose," said Kim. "Assuming--" She hesitated, then her eyes went wide. "Oh god," she said, putting a hand to her mouth.

"What?" asked Shego.

"KP?" chimed Ron.

"Monique!" Kim cried. "I haven't heard from her since were supposed to meet at the mall!" Kim ran to the phone and began dialing.

Monique's mom answered the phone. "Monique!? Is that you, baby?"

Kim's heart fell. The rest of the conversation was merely procedural.

---( KP )---

Kim sat in silence at the dining room table of her parent's house. She wanted to burst out screaming at how unfair this all was and why the hell does she get all the bad luck, but it wasn't the time for being cranky. People were in trouble, and even if being a hero was a life behind her, she hadn't forgotten her roots.

It helped more that Ron was here. She hated to admit it, but even his schmaltzy mannerisms were comforting in a nostalgic sort of way. She and him had been through great dangers together and it was hard to ignore the feeling his presence gave her when facing danger.

Of course, Shego's presence gave her comforting feelings too, but they were inappropriate at this moment.

"I just got off the phone with Hench," Shego announced, striding into the dinner room turned conference room with Kim's family, Ron, and the newcomer, Special Agent Gibson. "He's sent some people out to watch over Beth and see if Monique's face turns up anywhere, but he had some other news as well."

"What kinda news?" asked Ron. "'cause I'd say we could use a dose of the good."

"Can't promise that, sorry," sighed Shego. "He said that someone's been putting pressure on his 'legitimate' business, and I hope you realize I've just put quotes around legitimate."

"I thought he was entirely legitimate," asked Kim, eyeing Shego.

"Well, there's a certain degree of interpretation in that statement," said Shego.

"Really?" asked Agent Gibson. "Do tell." He looked less than amused.

"Hrm, uh, anyway, he said that it's not the normal sort of pressure he's used to," continued Shego. "Not like other people trying to steal his business or territory. It was more like vigilantism. Strange people walking in and leaving hints that he should clean up his act 'or else.'"

"Vigilantes?" asked Kim. "I don't get it."

"Word in his circles says that some of his customers have been getting pressured too," said Shego. "Pretty much all of his customers actually."

"So, somebody's telling everyone they need to go good?" asked Ron. "I don't get it, what's the bad side of this?"

"It's the 'or else' that's bad," said Agent Gibson. "Vigilantes are not typically any better than the people they pit themselves against." He pulled on the lapels of his jacket absentmindedly. "It's not my specialty, the BAU might help more, but it almost fits your girl's M.O."

"That's what I was thinking," said Shego. She looked to Kim. "Pumpkin, you said last time Allucinere was around she tried to create a better agency of 'justice' than Global Justice, right?"

"Yes," nodded Kim. "She felt GJ compromised too much and wasn't staffed with appropriately 'perfect' agents. She wanted to make things more black and white."

"That could be what we're looking at here," said Agent Gibson. "Or you could all be reading into it too much because she's on your mind."

"Well, then what do you think?" asked Shego, leaning on the table.

Agent Gibson looked around the table and paused on Kim. "There's more than a passing chance it's true," he finally said. "I'll call back to Langley and see if there's someone looking into it yet." He got up and pulled out a cell phone as he left the room.

"What did the police say?" asked Ron, looking to Kim's parents.

"They're going to post alerts," said Judy hopefully, then sighed. "But they're not going to get any more priority than normal runaways or missing persons. Elliot was a big help getting them to even pay attention to us. Apparently there are a large number of missing children reported every month."

"I can't believe this," Kim shook her head. "I've never had this much trouble finding a villain."

"You have to admit," said Ron. "She did a pretty good job cutting off your normal avenues of finding people. Wade, GJ, your website," he counted on his fingers.

"Then we need to find new avenues," said Kim. "Junior is even trying to help us, there has got to be others we can talk to."

"Hench is already tapping the villainous community," said Shego. "But to be honest, this Allucinere's polarizing attitude towards good and evil probably means we'd have more luck in the hero community."

Kim thought about that for a second, then rose her head and looked at Shego.

"I don't know if there are any hero newsletters, though," continued Shego, looking off. "Maybe some heroic forum or something. I'm not sure who would know, though."

Ron blinked then looked at Shego incredulously.

"You're pretty much the only hero I really came up against when I was a villain," said Shego. "Do you know any other heroes we might be able to ask?"

Shego looked at the rest of the table, who were all staring at her like she'd grown a second head.

"What?"

"Um," said Ron. "Weren't YOU a hero?"

Shego paused. Then frowned. "Oh, fine, so for once I look dumb." She grumbled. "Don't get used to it."


	13. Silent Night, December 22nd, 6 of 9

----------------

_Disney's_ Kim Possible in

**A Period of Silence: **

**SILENT NIGHT**

By Adam Leigh

Day 5

----------------

**DECEMBER 22ND**

"Three days," Kim said softly, resting her head against Shego's. They were sitting in her bedroom on the bed facing the window watching the sun rise. Shego had drifted in and out of sleep a few times during the night so Kim wrapped her arms around her to keep her close. Kim herself hadn't slept at all. She just didn't feel sleepy and every time she closed her eyes she thought of it, that dark place that all her nightmares paled in comparison to. The place Allucinere put her in. The place that drove Senior Senior Senior to madness.

The place her brothers and friends could be in right now.

Kim shivered and pulled Shego against her tighter. Shego stirred slightly and opened her sparkling emerald eyes to look up at Kim's dull green ones. "Hey princess," she said softly. "You cold?" She glowed slightly to warm the air around her.

Kim shook her head. "Nah, I'm just thinking about old nightmares."

Shego frowned. "Have you slept?"

Kim sat silently.

"You need to sleep," Shego admonished, rubbing her eyes. "You're not going to be at your best if you don't get at least some sleep. If this girl is as bad as you say--"

"She's worse," Kim said suddenly.

Shego bit her lip. "I'll keep an eye on things in the house if you're worried."

Kim looked away. "I just don't feel tired."

Shego sighed and sat up. She moved to sit directly in front of Kim. "You're being really difficult, you know that? I have half a mind to beat you into unconsciousness."

Kim shot a sharp look at her. "Give it up, I'm not afraid of you."

Shego's eyes narrowed and she snarled, "You should be." Raising her arm she created five small green flames at her fingertips and had them dance about her hand. "I'm twice as strong as I was when we last fought, and you're three times as tired."

"I'm not tired," snapped Kim. "And I'll give you a run for your money if you wanna go at it." She raised a finger and pointed it at Shego. "Don't think just because I love you I won't put you in your place."

"My place?" asked Shego, incredulously. The fires in her palm extinguished in a puff of smoke when she made a tight fist. "Insinuating that your place is above mine?"

Kim smiled evilly. "You know it is. After all, _I've_ never been captured by some teen hero and sent to jail. In fact, _I've_ never been defeated!"

Shego stood tall to look down at Kim. "Seems I let you win too many times."

Kim stood and went nose to nose against her. "Seems being beaten so many times has ruined your memory. You never 'let' me win once."

"Wanna bet?" sneered Shego.

"You're on," spat Kim.

Shego stepped back once, putting a slight bit of distance between them.

"Already retreating?" smiled Kim. "That certainly wasn't--OOUUF!" Shego lunged at her and caught her in her stomach as she was posturing.

Kim was surprised but had already begun twisting her body to launch off the bed and out of Shego's grip. Landing on her feet, Kim switched her stance and came at Shego with her fists ready. The ex-thief pushed herself off the bed to avoid Kim's swing and came about with a swing kick to land herself on the side of the bed.

Kim rolled to keep the bed between them, then after a moment lunged at Shego herself, catching her prey in the torso and slamming her to the ground, causing the dresser and the trinkets on top to rattle.

On the floor, the two struggled for dominance. Kim's hand held Shego's glowing fist to the ground while she pushed on the opposite shoulder to keep the other glowing arm from burning her. Shego was stronger though, and her arm kept inching closer to Kim's face, causing her to sweat from the heat and the struggle. Quickly realizing she wasn't in a winning position, Kim bent her knee and launched off the floor to get away.

Except as she let go of Shego's arm, the latter wrapped an arm around her shoulder and they both soared through the air momentarily, then landed again, this time on Kim's back. The hero coughed as some of the wind got knocked out of her but she kept her wits about her long enough to press her free knee against Shego's chest, again to keep the flailing glowing fists from reaching her.

As if realizing the flaw in her approach, Shego suddenly stopped going for Kim's chest and neck and slashed at Kim's knee, tearing her jeans and leaving a red welt on the flesh. Kim grit her teeth through the pain and punched Shego in her soft stomach, throwing her off and onto the bed.

For a moment, both combatants breathed and Kim tried to push away the throbbing pain in her leg. She stood again, favoring her good leg, and held her hands like claws, entering a judo stance. Shego sucked in cool morning air and pushed herself back onto her feet, holding her fists at ready. Both stared at each other.

Kim tensed her muscles, feeling her heart racing as sweat dripped from her brow and poured around her body. Finding energy in her limbs she'd hadn't known in three days Kim realized what she needed to do next and changed her position slightly, going from a defensive to an offensive stance. Shego's brow furrowed as if she read Kim's movements, trying to decipher them before the attack. Kim wasn't planning on giving her the opportunity.

In a blur, Kim feinted to the side then crossed the distance between them in a hearbeat, suddenly directly in front of Shego. Her hands grabbed Shego's shoulders and used her momentum to throw them down onto the bed, her grip tense against Shego's skin. Her mouth was hung open as she breathed heavily looking down with angry eyes at Shego who looked up in awe. Her arms that had been struggling to find hold against the bed loosened and lie flat.

The side of Shego's mouth turned up every so slightly. "That wasn't a judo throw," she said between breathes.

Kim ignored her words and pressed her mouth down against Shego's, feeling her burning lips and trying to suck the life out of her lover. Her arms released Shego's shoulders and instead ran down her sides, feeling the curves of her chest as they slid down to her hips. In return, Shego's arms reached up and wrapped around Kim's back and clawed at her shirt madly.

The two franticly assaulted each other with strong arms and hot lips, leaving faint trails of glistening saliva on their necks and shoulders as their heartbeats raced in unison. Eventually Shego's fingers gripped Kim's shirt enough to tear it away and Kim repaid the favor by pulling Shego's collar until her dark green tank top lay torn in two.

In a sober moment, the two girls separated and looked at each other. Kim straddling atop of Shego wearing only her jeans and Shego sprawled out on the bed in an equal state of undress. Kim's eyes salaciously ran across every inch of Shego's sweaty flesh and could feel the heat of Shego's green orbs racing across her own. Kim's mind whirred with newfound energy and struggled to move even faster. She could feel a vibration inside her chest and with surprise realized it was her own heart. The tense feeling traveled across her body, from her tingling fingertips, to the center of hips. There was no stop for her. There could be no stop until she'd won. The battle hadn't ended yet. The objective had just changed.

Running her tongue over her lips, Kim descended again.

---( KP )---

Eventually her heart calmed again, and Kim lay naked on her bed, her eyes half-lidded in the arms of her equally naked lover who was gently playing with her hair. A sheet had been hastily arranged on them but covered very little and seemed to be more symbolic than functional.

Shego's dark lips kissed Kim's forehead and the latter sighed contently, nestling against the older girl's ample bosom. Shego shivered slightly as Kim's breath traveled slowly across her skin, leaving cool, desperate reminders of what had happened just minutes before.

Kim looked up at Shego's face and saw her looking aimlessly off to the side. Pouting slightly, Kim sucked Shego's breast into her mouth and ran her slick tongue along the pale flesh. Releasing her sudden hostage, Kim looked up and saw Shego looking down at her with a surprised expression. Mission accomplished.

"Hey," Shego said. "I thought you were falling asleep."

"You looked ... troubled," said Kim. "What are you thinking about?"

"I think we should spar," said Shego.

Kim giggled. "Didn't we just do that?"

"We did," nodded Shego. "We should do it more often. Every day."

Kim blinked in astonishment.

"Not necessarily ending the same way." Shego admitted, looking to the side. "I just think... we're sort of built that way. We shouldn't neglect our abilities just because we don't fight epic battles anymore." She looked back. "It might be useful given we can't seem to avoid attracting trouble."

Kim grimaced but nodded. "You're probably right. Besides it was... you know..." she blushed. "Fun."

Shego smiled warmly.

Kim yawned. "What time is it?"

"Just after eight," said Shego. "My brothers said they'd show up around ten."

"Okay," said Kim sleepily. She closed her eyes and rested her head against Shego again. "Wake me up before they get here."

Within moments she was asleep.

Minutes later Shego looked down. "Um, what am I supposed to do until then?"

---( KP )---

By eleven, the two cars in the driveway and the one in the street had been joined by three more: a large SUV, a well kept foreign sedan, and a domestic sports wagon. A passer-by might think that a big party was brewing for Christmas, but the truth was much less festive.

Kim was sitting at the dining room table spreading some cream cheese on a bagel and looked in awe at the crowd that had gathered at the Possible home. Heroes, villains, an ex-marine, world renowned scientists, and her old sidekick, they all ate at the same table and, largely, amiably. Under any other circumstances, Kim would think that she was still in stuck in that cable box connected to the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer and living in an off-beat sitcom. But the truth was that life was always stranger than fiction.

A knock on the door prompted Dr. Possible, to answer and a few minutes later he returned to the dining room with FBI Special Agent Gideon in tow. He blinked at the assembled cabal.

"A few more people here this morning than yesterday," Gibson pointed out.

"Strange how we tend to multiply in situations like these," commented Shego.

"Sorry, Elliot," said Nana, standing then motioning to the opposite side of the table. A large muscular man, a tall thin man, both with dark hair, and two shorter twins with athletic builds and brown hair sat there, dressed in relatively plain clothes. "These are Lily's brothers."

"Lily?" asked the agent.

"Me." Shego raised her hand. "I guess we were never formally introduced."

"Your reputation preceded you, but evidently your name did not."

"I don't use it much," shrugged Shego.

"This is Raymond, Jason, Wesley and William Kedar," said Nana, moving from left to right down the row. "They're also known as --"

"Ahem!" coughed Jason. "Secret identity, much?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," apologized Nana. "I just assumed..."

"Yeah, just because sis feels there's no segregation between her personal life and her _villainous_ one doesn't me we all feel that way." Jason shook his head.

"You're all villains?" asked Agent Gibson, surprised.

"Er--No!" stammered Jason.

"No, we're heroes," announced Raymond.

"Famous, successful ones," added Jason.

"Give it up, bro," said Wesley.

"He's FBI, our cover was blown the moment she said we were Shego's brothers," said William.

"Ah, Team Go," said Gibson, nodding. "I remember the report now."

"See?" said Wesley.

Jason buried his head in his hands. "I don't know why I bother with you all, seriously."

"They've been doing this all morning," Ron said softly to Gibson.

"I'm sorry," said Nana. "I didn't know you wanted to keep it a secret."

"Its fine," said Wesley with a smile.

"Only Mego gets up in arms about it," continued William.

Shego leaned on her arm and rolled her eyes. "Can we drop the crap and get to the point?" she announced to nobody in particular.

"Shego," Kim said wearily.

"Fine, I'll do it." Shego looked up to Gibson. "We have a lead on Allucinere."

"Where?" The agent's expression changed immediately from lightly amused to serious.

"She came to us," said Raymond, taking a bite out of his bagel. "She said that on Christmas day a new form of justice would be borne and that anyone wishing to continue being a hero would have to prove their worth before her or risk being named as villains." He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a small card. "She gave us an address to go to for 'tryouts.'"

Gibson picked up the card and examined it closely. "Colorado Springs," he said. "Not very low profile."

"It probably wasn't her," said Ron, looking up at the still standing special agent. "More likely a PossiBot with a Luminocodec set to resemble her."

"Or not," added Wesley. "Since we don't know what this Allucinere looks like, it could have been anyone."

"And she never said her name was Allucinere, either," said William. "Just a 'herald of the new age of justice.'"

"God, does she get all her lines from comic books?" asked Shego, perturbed.

"Wait a minute, this is today," said Gibson looking at the card. He looked at his watch. "Six o'clock this evening."

"Which would be why we're still here," said Kim, raising a brow. "Instead of running down this lead the second we heard about it."

"Was anyone else approached?" asked Gibson.

"_Everyone_ was approached," said Jason, rolling his eyes. "The Sewer Viper got a card too, that guy is like, four leagues beneath us." Jason angrily spread butter on his bagel. "He trolls the sewers of Go city defending us against the dreaded 'sewer lobsters.' What a screwball."

"At least he doesn't run across rooftops screaming that he's the big blue bug of--" started Wesley.

"Let's get back on track here," interrupted Shego. "You can lament your bruised egos later."

"I need to call this in, get some uniforms down there," said Gibson, turning.

"Wait," said Kim. "We can't scare her off if she's really going to show. You've gotta keep the feds off this one."

"Don't worry, we'll keep it low profile," nodded Gibson. "You think the FBI doesn't know how to deal with terrorists?" He swiftly left the room.

"Not like this one," said Kim, softly.

---( KP )---

Kim stared at her K-link while sitting on the couch in the living room. It displayed the time. It wasn't very fascinating.

"Hey there," said William as he noticed the heroine sitting alone. "What're you doing?"

"Wade didn't check in this morning," Kim said with a frown. "I'm worried."

"Wade?" asked William, sitting on a recliner nearby.

"He's my-- or, rather, he was my tech hookup, back in the day." Kim sighed. "Now he works for Global Justice."

"Really?" William's eyes lit up.

"They're really not all that hot," said Kim. "I know they swooped in to help you and your brothers overcome the symbiote, but generally they're stuck-up and ends-justify-the-means people."

"Still, they have the James Bond angle, which is an near-instant win in my book," smiled William. "Haven't heard from them since Shego recovered though, I guess they've been busy."

"They're on a witch hunt, actually," said Kim.

"Witches?"

"No, I mean -- er, they're searching for a mole... a spy," Kim tried to clarify. "With all this holographic disguise-kit stuff happening, they're in a panic and trying to figure out if everyone is who they say they are. As a result they've stopped doing... well, just about anything."

"But not Wade," questioned William.

"No, he's been trying to help without GJ knowing." Kim looked gloomily at her watch. "I'm worried they found out and did something."

"They're still good guys, right? I'm sure he's fine, just being scolded."

"Hah," Kim laughed cynically. "I wish every bad thing I've done only resulted in a scolding." She looked away.

"Um... I don't mean to pry, but, are you alright?" asked William. "I know your family is in danger, and that's terrifying -- trust me I know -- but is there... you know... something else?"

Kim glanced back at the youngest of Team Go and felt somewhat nostalgic. "How long have you guys been a team?"

"Oh, probably about eight years now," said William. "Well, that's counting the year or so we split up, so only about 6 years actually fighting evil."

"Wow," said Kim, trying not to sound envious. "I didn't last that long."

"Well, like I said, neither did we. We lost Shego early on, then broke up a couple years later due to... uh, personal issues." William shrugged. "It's hard work keeping a team together, especially when it's the family business."

"Do you, um, regret it at all?" asked Kim.

William blinked. "No, not really. I wish we hadn't broken up, 'cause we're a great team when we're together, but I can't say I regret helping others."

"That's...that's not what I meant," said Kim, feeling embarrassed at his enthusiasm.

"Is that what's bothering you? You regret being a hero?" William sounded confused.

"I ... regret that I'll probably be nothing else." Kim sagged. "No matter how much I try to distance myself, it just keeps coming back at me. My enemies track me down or I find myself in a strange series of events leading to me having to get my hands dirty again. It's an endless cycle I only see ending when... they finally win." Kim looked to be on the verge of tears. "And then who steps in to keep my family safe?"

Kim buried her face in her hands. She didn't want to think this way, she knew it wasn't heroic. She had no idea why she was bearing her soul to this boy, either. When she was his age, she thought she was indestructible. Silently she cursed Maya Tromper for putting her so off-balance.

Suddenly she felt a gentle pat on her shoulder and she looked up to see William looking at her with a kind, almost tender expression. "Hey," he said. "I don't know where this thing with you and sis is going, but, we're fellow heroes and maybe we'll be family too. We'll be there if you need us. Don't try to take it all on yourself, okay?"

Kim looked at him in awe. He didn't look awkward at all, he actually looked confident. Of all the fumbling Kim always did to express herself he'd quickly taken in stride. Where did his strength come from?

"I think Shego's a little ashamed of us," said William whimsically. "So I imagine she doesn't go to any great lengths to connect with us. But that doesn't mean we don't want to be close to both of you. Give us a call now and then. If you don't want to get dirty anymore, that's cool, just call on us." He smiled again. "We do have a really fast jet." He looked a little awkward. "Which only Shego can fly well, but Hego gets by." He shrugged.

Kim closed her eyes and breathed. Maybe... maybe...

"Thanks," she nodded, opening her eyes. "I'm kinda sorry we never got a chance to talk before."

"Meh," grinned William. "We've both been a little busy."

Kim patted William's hand and nodded.

"Hey!"

Kim looked up to see Shego walk in. She had her hands at her hips. "Hands off, buddy, she's mine," she announced.

"Oh, come on, sis, I'm not that despicable," said William. "You're the _villain_ after all."

Shego crossed her arms. "One can never trust you hero-types."

"Hey," this time Kim spoke up.

"Er," Shego looked to the side. "Except you, of course."

"We were just talking, Shego," Kim frowned.

Shego sighed. "I know," she muttered. "Can't a girl give her brother a hard time?" She looked at Kim out of the corner of her eye. "I know you're a skilled practitioner."

"Ah... well, that's true," admitted Kim. She looked at William, who seemed to be enjoying the conversation. "But maybe I should cut back, they might have a wise word to say, every now and then."

Shego rolled her eyes. "Alright, enough Zen and the Art of Heroism. Will, your brother's run off, can you find him?"

"Which one?" asked William with a smirk. Shego just stared. "Yeah, yeah, I'll track down Wes." He got up and headed out towards the back of the house.

Shego watched him leave then sat down next to Kim. "He didn't do anything dumb, did he?"

Kim eyed her skeptically. "You really ought to reach out more to your family, they might not disappoint you."

"I know, I know," Shego nodded quickly. "First thing on my list when life returns to some semblance of normal, but right now we've got bigger fish to fry."

Kim nodded. "Gibson says that the FBI is going to monitor the event, and strategically take out whoever identifies themselves as Allucinere. Given she has an army of potential duplicates, I don't exactly agree with their approach."

"Yeah, they're not exactly used to handling this type of villain," nodded Shego. "GJ would be better suited but..."

"But we can't count on them for anything right now," finished Kim. "I'm glad that someone is trying to help, but we're going to have to find Allucinere before the Feds bust in or we might lose her."

"Assuming she's actually there."

"Right." Kim nodded again then looked at her watch. "Still got that jet lying around?"

Shego smiled.

---( KP )---

Ron frowned. Standing in the lobby of Pike's Peak Center, surrounded by maybe a hundred very strangely dressed people from across the country and quite possibly the world, he wanted nothing more than to look like he didn't belong. These people were outright weird, and while much of their looks and habits were once representative of a culture he revered, time had not treated that particular interest well.

"This is embarrassing," Ron summarized, looking down at the bright blue and yellow 'Zorpox' suit he was wearing. "And a size or two too small."

Shego slapped Ron's hand as he was pulling at his tunic. "Don't fiddle with it, people will realize you're a fake."

"Come on, I'm wearing a _villain's_ outfit," Ron stressed quietly. "You really don't think these people are going to realize?"

"You were a fake villain," said Shego. "No notable deeds either way. You're worried someone will notice you're not a hero? I doubt anyone will even notice you, period." Shego turned to face Kim who was dressed as Sheela, in her skin-tight, leopard outfit. "Now the princess on the other hand..."

Kim blushed even more than she had been already. "I used to be... smaller, when I wore this last," she said in a quiet voice, and then pulled at her top slightly to cover her exposed skin. Shego slapped her too.

"This is fun," Shego said with a satisfactory nod.

"I don't get why YOU get to dress like you always do," Kim grumbled.

"Hello? Actual ex-hero here!" Shego said.

"Yeah, what about that 'ex' part?" asked Ron.

"Oh, come on, if there is anything more common than a hero going rogue, it's a villain reforming." Shego shrugged. "Besides, we're not wearing nametags or anything, we'll just handle this low-key style and make the grab when we get the chance."

"Assuming anyone shows _to_ grab," pointed out Ron.

"Right," nodded Shego.

Kim sighed and pulled on her top again. "Let's look around. We've only got a short while before the Feds and your brothers show up."

Wordlessly, they waded through the crowd, trying to catch a glimpse of everyone in the center. Eventually, after thirty minutes of looking, they reconvened at the other end of the center and forced their way into a service corridor. The long beige hallways snaked around the public areas as they walked, with numerous corridors leading off in all directions.

Minutes passed.

"You know, something just occurred to me," said Ron.

"Shhh!" hushed Shego as they snuck around another corner.

"Right," whispered Ron.

"What is it?" Kim said quietly.

"How many heroes are there really? Seems like there were an awful lot of people out there and I didn't recognize any of them."

"Not every hero makes the news, Stoppable," said Shego.

"No, I know," said Ron. "But you would think there would be at least a few of the more noteworthy ones here. Jade Hammer or Shadownite, or some of the other heavy hitters from Go city aside from Team Go."

"The more successful heroes probably weren't intimidated by Allucinere's threats," suggested Kim. "There's no way I would have 'tried out' to be part of her league of justice."

"No, but you would have come anyway to stop her," Ron said with a raised finger. Kim frowned and slowed her pace, looking at Ron. He and Shego slowed down as well.

"You're right," said Kim. "Why aren't they here?"

"They have to know, don't they?" asked Shego. "Maybe they're just..."

"What?" asked Ron. "_Scared_?"

Shego looked at Kim suddenly. "It's a trap," she said, realization dawning. "She's thinning out the herd." She paused. "Hey wait! She thought Team Go was second rate!"

"We'll deal with your brother's image later," said Kim. "We need to clear this place out before the trap is sprung."

The three started running back towards the center's lobby. Shego ran beside Kim.

"You know, someone's got to be here to set the trap," she said between breaths. "We should be looking for them."

Kim frowned. "You think they'll set it off early if we start telling people to run?"

"It's possible," shrugged Shego.

Kim thought about it as they ran.

"You and Ron try to find the person behind all this," Kim said. "I'll try to discretely get people to leave. Maybe the FBI will be useful after all."

"What? Me and Stoppable?" squawked Shego.

"You're better off together, safer from Allucinere," said Kim. "Since the hospital she's hasn't made a single direct attack on me, but she has gone after the people around me. I don't think she wants me yet, she wants to torment me first."

"That's a pretty heavy assumption," said Ron.

"Just go. If you run into a PossiBot, it'll probably take two of you to defeat it anyway." Kim sped up.

"Hey! I could take one!" called Shego, but Kim was already leaving her behind. She didn't want to give them time to argue. There was only one reason why Allucinere would have gone after Kim's brothers who had never done anything against her: she wanted to torment her. It was working, but Kim refused to let it affect her judgment anymore.

Pushing through the double service doors back into the lobby, Kim looked around at the swelling crowd. More people had started to show up, suddenly annoying Kim. These people are self-proclaimed _heroes_, can't they sense a set-up?

Grumbling, Kim moved into the crowd and started gently grabbing people and telling them to leave. It didn't work out as expected.

"I'm not leaving until I have my words with this woman, how dare she threaten me!"

"Wait, aren't you Kim Possible? I thought you vanished! Wait a minute, you're trying to be the only one on Allucinere's side!"

"Are you kidding? Look at these guys, I'm clearly the one with the most Justice, I'm not leaving."

Kim boggled at the reactions of the costumed crime fighters. Several listened to reason but so many were so naïve they thought that Allucinere actually was as good as she claimed to be. She wryly wondered if this was some sort of natural selection process for heroes.

Suddenly a sound rang out and a couple of suited women walked out and opened the doors to the amphitheatre, announcing that the event would be starting shortly. The suited women quickly departed as heroes began filing through the doorway. Kim briefly played with the idea of going after the women, but knew that saving the people too prescience. She forced her way through the crowd, reaching the entrance after only a couple dozen people had gotten through.

She wedged herself in the doorway, spreading her arms and legs to block the opening. "Listen up, people!" she yelled as loud as she could. Discretion would have to be abandoned.

General clamor in the lobby quieted to a murmur. Kim looked serious out into the crowd. "Everyone has to leave," she yelled out. "Allucinere is no agent of justice! The woman who invited you all here is a criminal, a villain! She brought you here to lure you into a trap! Please, turn around and leave as quickly as you can before whatever scheme she has comes about!"

Kim breathed deeply after yelling so hard, but remained firmly in place. To her surprised many people, irritated, turned and started to leave... only to discover they couldn't.

"The doors are jammed!" called someone from the head of the leaving crowd. "All of them are!"

The sudden sound of a forceful impact caused the windows in the atrium to rattle. "Even I can't break it, and I can tear a phonebook in half!" called another voice.

"Give it a rest, Atlas, you don't have super-strength."

"Yeah, well, I don't have super nearsightedness either, do I, Minelight?"

"I have a stigmatism!"

"Is that another word for 'powerless'?"

"Get away from the doors you clowns, let a real superhero handle this."

Kim shook her head at the antics going on by the exit and wondered what dimension she'd fallen into.

"You never were the detective, Kim."

Kim froze, hearing a familiar voice from inside the theatre behind her. She felt her blood run cold as she slowly turned to look in the room she'd put her back to. Down the rows of seats and on the stage stood a single, short, trim woman with long red hair and wearing a silver-white stretch suit that was definitely familiar. In fact, the whole package was familiar. If it wasn't for the woman's more angular face, she'd look exactly like Kim did.

The woman on stage flicked a bit of her red hair behind her. "Yet another trait you came up woefully short in," she said. "How could I have been so fooled by you?"

Kim opened her mouth but felt it go dry. "Maya," she said.

Maya smiled. "You see, this was a bait-and-trap attempt, but I could care less about these second-rate carnival attractions." She motioned to the few 'heroes' still in the audience. "They're nothing more than part of the bait." She smiled evilly. "You're the catch."

Kim closed her eyes to steady herself. She wasn't afraid... she wasn't sure what it was she felt, but she was sure it wasn't fear. She consolidated her feelings and locked them away, focusing on the matter before her. There would be time for feelings later.

Finding her center, Kim opened her eyes again and steeled herself. "Come to take me on alone this time?" she asked, irreverently.

"Now why would I do that?" asked Maya, looking to either side of the amphitheatre. "You would win."

The two doors on either side of the arena suddenly opened. From one, a small army of PossiBots emerged, slowly marching in sequence from the tunnel and looking straight at Kim. From the other side came a puff of black smoke.

Kim frowned at the black smoke, briefly wondering if Maya had created a robotic dragon. Since nothing emerged immediately, Kim directed her attention to the half-dozen PossiBots approaching her. She had trouble fighting just one of these things, how was she going to even the odds against six?

"Anytime any of you 'heroes' want to prove yourself, now would be an excellent time," Kim called out to the band of misfits trying to break out of the lobby and back into the street. A few looked back, conflicted. The band of PossiBots chose that time to rip through a section of the seating which had been in their path to Kim. The chairs, typically bolted to the floor, were torn up like paper and tossed several meters away like so much trash. Those 'heroes' still conflicted turned and fled.

"This is why they're not worthy of my new world order," said Maya with a shake of her head.

The first couple of PossiBots got close enough to leap the rest of the way and launched themselves at Kim. With only a split second to think, she rolled away towards the stage, narrowly missing being crushed to a powder. The concrete stairway fractured and shifted under the PossiBots' fists. Kim looked up just in time to see that the remaining four Bots quickly closing the distance towards her.

Swallowing, Kim got to her feet and ran towards them. She had to run this battle on her own terms or the PossiBots' better strength and numbers would easily wipe the floor with her. The Bots in front of her noticed her approach and began to fan out, forcing Kim to choose one of them to attack. Kim picked the Bot to her far right and used a chair as a springboard to leap kick it.

The PossiBot proved faster than expected, though, and had raised its arms to deflect the blow. Kim simply launched off of the crossed forearms into a dive at another PossiBot who couldn't react fast enough. Kim took her down to the ground hard and rolled off back into a defensive stance. The PossiBot on the ground lurched once, then quickly picked itself up.

One of the first PossiBots must have predicted her movements because it was suddenly beside her, rushing down side aisle between the chairs and the wall. Kim only had time to block as the Bot's punch came at her head. The impact was substantial and Kim could feel her arms throbbing. She pushed past the pain and returned with a jab to the Bot's stomach, causing it to momentarily double over. Taking every advantage, Kim slipped behind the Bot and kicked it in the back as hard as she could, throwing it forward into another of the PossiBots and the both collapsed to the floor.

Kim's heel and leg throbbed now. Kicking that Bot felt like kicking concrete for some reason and her body ached from the exertion. Kim looked up at the stage to see Maya standing there, smiling roguishly.

"Giving up already?" asked Maya, noticing her stare. "I hope you aren't going to disappoint me further."

Kim narrowed her eyes, scanning the room in a second. There was too much space here. It was too easy for the PossiBots to surround her, she needed to thin them out, deal with them one at a time. Kim looked behind herself to see the door the PossiBots had originally come in from. It wasn't far away, she could make it easily. She didn't want to look like she was running away, but she had little choice.

Kim turned on her toes and started to sprint.

Then she heard an explosion behind her. Against her better judgment, she looked back to see what it was. A PossiBot in the back of the group was smoking and parts of it's skin was dripping off revealing the gleaming metal beneath. One of its arms had was missing and a few sparking wires and jutting metal were all that was left in its place. Somehow, the Bot was unfazed and turned, in unison with the other PossiBots, to look at the source of the attack.

Across the amphitheatre, standing before the other doorway which had previously been emitting black smoke, stood Shego, leaning heavily on the doorframe, with her hand extended and glowing bright green. She was breathing deeply and coughing, sweat dripping down her face, but her expression was unmistakable. She was pissed off.

Beside her stood Ron looking slightly worse for wear and not nearly as tired. His hands were held before him in a karate stance.

"Man these things take a lot to bring down," said Shego between breaths.

"Shego!" yelled Kim, never more pleased to see the woman.

"I wondered where the other ones went," said Maya, playing with her hair thoughtfully. "You're quite a firecracker."

"I assume you're Allucinere," said Shego, catching her breath and straightening.

"I am," nodded Maya with a smile. "You must be Shego." She darkened suddenly. "The one who won Kim's heart."

"Just 'Shego' will do," said Shego grinning slyly. "And you can give up now and save yourself from being vaporized." She waved her glowing hand around for emphasis.

"I doubt that," said Maya. "I'm impressed you took on so many of my PossiBots and won, but I don't think you have much more left in you." She paused and twirled her hair around her finger. "Although... your dedication is noteworthy, especially considering your history, and your strength is clearly superior to any of the fools in the center. Swear off your villainous past and you need not be my enemy. In a way, I can offer you a part in world domination."

Shego's eyes went wide and she shook for a second. Kim worried that she was struggling with her evil side that Kim knew she only suppressed for her sake.

Then, suddenly, she burst out laughing.

"Ahh, I'm sorry," she said while laughing. "I couldn't hold it in anymore." She laughed so hard she doubled over. "Hang on, I'm waiting for the part you reveal that you're actually my father and that I need to turn on those pesky rebels." Shego continued laughing.

Kim looked to Maya to see her standing stoically, her eyes narrowed.

"Very well then," said Maya. She looked the PossiBots. "Kill them all."

The PossiBots turned and separated into two groups, with four -- including the damaged one -- heading towards Shego and Ron and the remaining two closing on Kim. I can't run now, Kim thought. I can't abandon Shego and Ron.

Kim looked up at Maya again and saw her watching Shego and Ron with interest. Maybe there was a way to end this quicker than she thought.

Rushing the PossiBots again, Kim watched as they recognized the repeated strategy and increased their own speed. Kim quickly adapted to their strategy and leaped forward with her arms extended. The lead PossiBot rose its arms to block, just like Kim wanted, and she grabbed the arms to swing up and over it, launching herself into the air. The PossiBot behind the lead one quickly closed the distance allowing Kim to land on its shoulders and leap again, this time towards the stage.

Moments before her feet would hit the ground she saw another PossiBot come flying at her with its shoulder in front. Without anything to change her direction, Kim twisted to soften the impact but still felt her ribs getting brused by the impact against her torso. She flew towards the back of the stage, spinning in the air, until she landed hard on her shoulder, hearing a snap inside her own body.

Kim's body ached. Nerves up and down her spine were crying out in pain and her shoulder felt dead. She suspected it had become dislocated when she couldn't easily move her arm. She didn't have time to waste, though, so she used her good arm to stand up again.

Maya was staring at her evenly. "Ready for that one-on-- woah!"

Kim didn't feel like banter. She rushed forward and swung her leg around and down for a chop kick. Maya's hand was inexplicably there and deflected the blow to the side as she moved gracefully back. Kim shifted her weight to swing kick around but again Maya's arms blocked it swiftly. Her hands grabbed Kim's ankle and attempted to twist her leg. Without another option, Kim twisted her body to match the direction Maya was twisted and swung her leg around one more time for a kick to Maya's head.

With a dull thump, it finally connected and Maya dropped her to the floor, staggering back. Kim rolled onto her side and pushed herself back to her feet again, taking care to guard her bad arm. She looked back at Maya.

The woman was just standing there, with her head cocked to the side. She slowly moved it back to a normal position and Kim could see the slight scuff mark on her cheek but nothing else. No redness, no bruising, no swelling.

"You're a PossiBot!" Kim yelled, angrily.

"Of course!" said Maya. "You think I would broadcast to the world that I was holding try-outs and then come _personally_?"

"How... are you..." stammered Kim.

"Remote controls, dear," said Maya. "I can control any of my PossiBots remotely. You shouldn't be surprised, I did work with one of the greatest remote controlled roboticists in the world while at GJ." She waved her hand and suddenly all the PossiBots in the theatre shimmered and then appeared identical to Maya without missing a beat.

Kim looked at the raging battle with Ron and Shego then at the two Maya-clones approaching her from behind. Her heart fell as the odds stacked up against her. She looked back to the talking Maya.

"Don't hurt anyone else," Kim said, softly. "And I'll agree--"

A louder crash suddenly rung through the theatre followed by a booming explosion from above. Chunks of ceiling tile and metal scraps rained down from above. Maya looked sharply up and Kim followed her glance.

Descending rapidly from the hole was Team Go, followed by a score of GJ agents on rappelling lines led by the former Team Impossible: Crash, Dash, and Burn.

Maya suddenly looked back at Kim, with angry eyes. "Say it!" she screamed. "Finish what you were saying!"

Team Go landed nearby and an instant later Hego was raging towards the nearest Maya-PossiBot followed by a rapidly growing Mego and two dozen Wegos.

"It's over, Maya," Kim said. "You lose this round."

Maya looked furious then she suddenly softened and sneered. "Oh, did I?" She smiled slightly. "The funny thing is, you can only be in one place, but I can be everywhere."

She turned and fled behind stage. Kim moved to follow but nearly collapsed from the pain that shot up her spine. "Ugh," she grunted. Looking back at the army of Team Go and GJ agents, she spotted Will Du among the combatants.

"Will!" Kim yelled. "Go after that one!" She pointed at the retreated Maya-PossiBot. "It's got a direct link to the real Allucinere!"

Will looked up and nodded, then grabbed Crash and the two of them ran after the retreating figure. Several GJ agents disengaged and followed.

Kim watched as the battle raged furiously but briefly as the remaining Maya-PossiBots were easily overwhelmed by the might of Team Go and GJ. Minute later, it was over, and Kim found herself sitting on the floor nursing her aching shoulder.

Hego came up and awkwardly kneeled before her. "Kim," he said softly. "I--"

"Raymond," Kim said with relief. "I can't thank you enough. I don't know how you got GJ to come with you but--"

"Kim!" Shego was running over as best she could with her bruises. She collapsed by Kim quickly looked her over. "Are you alright?"

"Just a little beat up," said Kim. "How about you? You look terrible."

"I heal quick, remember?" said Shego. She frowned. "It looks like you dislocated your shoulder."

"Among other things," Kim said, trying to shrug but only succeeding in sending bolts of pain through her body. "Akkgg."

"Kim," Hego said again, more forcefully. "Listen to me."

"Hey, lay off her, brute," said Shego. "We had a rough time before you guys finally decided to show up."

"We were delayed," said Hego.

"By what? Traffic?" asked Shego, incredulous.

Hego just looked at Kim. "Kim, Allucinere attacked your house."

Kim felt the world freeze. "My... parents?"

"It happened right after we left," said Hego. "We got word from Elliot as soon as it started so we turned around to try and help but..."

"What happened to my _parents?_" Kim said forcefully.

"Your Nana is in the hospital right now," said Hego. "She should recover. But... we can't find your mom and dad."

"What do you mean you can't find them?" yelled Kim.

"Kim," said Shego softly.

"No!" screamed Kim. "How is she doing this?!" Kim felt tears streaming down her face. "How is she always one step ahead of me?" She looked to the ceiling and out through the hole which showed the black sky. She took a deep breath and hollered. "WILL MY HELL EVER END?!"


	14. Silent Night, December 23rd, 7 of 9

----------------

_Disney's_ Kim Possible in

**A Period of Silence: **

**SILENT NIGHT**

By Adam Leigh

Day 6

----------------

**DECEMBER 23RD**

It was past midnight by the time Kim walked back into her parents' house. It was dark and cold, and felt like it belonged to strangers. Kim didn't know this house, she'd never been here before. The place she grew up in was warm and bright and full of energy and fun, the place where she played with her brothers and admired her parents. It was a place where she and Ron had conspired about babysitting services and, eventually, helping out people who needed help. It was an honest, good-intentioned dream borne out of a home of tenderness.

That place was gone now. All that was left was this dark house.

Shego turned the lights on, bathing the room in a yellow hue. The place was a mess. Tables turned and furniture out of place. Someone had made a half-hearted attempt at putting things back into a semblance of order but they clearly had not lived here. They didn't know that the coasters lived on the end table and it was exactly three paces between the couch and the recliner.

Ron followed Shego into the house and both stood beside Kim as she stared. It had been a long night, a long three days, and she couldn't remember ever being so tired before. How many hours of sleep had she gotten in the last four days? Four or five hours at the most? There were symptoms associated with sleep deprivation but Kim couldn't remember them. Things like depression and dementia happened to other people, not her. She was a hero, right?

The sound of several more feet approached from behind, and slowly but surely the house began to fill again. Team Go was still with them, as were several members of GJ. The latter of which were carrying several crates of equipment to be set up. The Possible house was to become some sort of 'command center', or so Kim barely remembered from the debriefing they had in Colorado.

Kim tried to remember more of the conversation. Something about Wade and ... account numbers? Yes, GJ had traced the accounts from Junior's company to the purchase of a facility in India. An advanced toy manufacturing plant owned by Nakasumi. They finally decided to get off their asses and try and stop Allucinere, so they've organized an operation to infiltrate the toy plant and, if necessary shut it down.

It all swam and flowed out of her mind like water when Kim tried to spend more than a few minutes thinking about it. All that mattered was that there were going to be a bunch of strangers and acquaintances in her home but none of them would make it feel any more alive than when she opened that door seconds ago.

"Kim," said Agent Will Du. "The Indian Op. will start in less than two hours is there anything else that you can tell us--"

"Back off," Shego interjected and casually stepped between Will and Kim. "She's told you everything she can, she needs to sleep now."

"Everyone's tired, but this operation--"

"Already has all the information it's going to get from us," finished Ron, moving beside Shego.

Will looked between them two and then at Kim who looked back with a frown.

"Very well," said Will, who turned to address another agent.

Kim sighed and looked towards Shego. In return she nodded and began herding her towards the stairs. "Ron," she said simply and motioned with her head.

Ron moved behind them and then turned his back to the stairs. "Let her get some rest, guys." He stood guard as Kim and Shego ascended the rest of the way.

Inside her room, Kim walked forward like a zombie to her bet then toppled forward. Her ankle ached where it was sprained and her shoulder throbbed from being recently re-set. She wondered if the Jade Hammer ever felt like this. She also wondered if that was armor she wore or she was a robot. These were the types of questions that had assaulted her mind in her most exhausted hour. It was embarrassing.

Shego sat down beside her, looking pensive, which introduced a new chain of thought into Kim's already rattled brain.

"You and Ron seem to be getting along suddenly," Kim said, moving her head just enough to see Shego out of the corner of her eye.

Shego folded her arms and shook her head gently to each side. "He's still a buffoon," she said abruptly. Then she softened. "But he stumbles onto the right words every now and then."

Shego looked down at Kim. "We talked a little bit while searching the service corridors of the theatre. He told me some of what happened between you two."

"He did?" asked Kim, a little surprised.

"Well, he wasn't unprompted," Shego looked causally away. "He said your 'personal hell' was of him... hurting you."

Kim closed her eyes. "Yes." She reluctantly thought back to that day.

"That was why you broke up with him," continued Shego, still looking away.

Kim frowned and propped herself up on her arms. "Did he really tell you all this?"

Shego looked back, surprised, then slowly looked down. "Well, I kinda surmised a bit of it based on how you two have been acting."

"Why does it matter?" asked Kim as she lay back down. "It's in the past. You're not worried I'm going to leave you, are you?"

"A little bit," Shego looked up. "But not entirely over this."

"Wait, really?" asked Kim.

Shego frowned but nodded slightly.

"I don't get it, you're like the most confident person I know," said Kim. "There's no reason for you to worry."

"You didn't break up with him because you didn't love him," said Shego plainly. "You did it because you'd been traumatized by the PH device. But it looks like over time you've figured out how to deal with that, since you don't mind him being around. And..." she trailed off.

"Shego," Kim said with a shake of her head. Everything about this conversation seemed wrong.

"He still loves you," said Shego. "That's why he ran at the restaurant a few days back." She sighed and stood up to walk to the window. "He was holding out hope that you two would get back together." Shego glanced back. "He's an earnest fool who didn't deserve what happened to him anymore than you did."

Kim rolled over to sit up on the edge of the bed. "Shego, I've lost enough people I love in the last few days, I couldn't bear it if you ran now."

"I'm not running," Shego said, frustrated. "You need me now, so I won't betray you." She paced angrily. "I just..." she wouldn't continue.

"I don't understand," said Kim, worried. "What's changed?"

"ME!" yelled Shego. "I changed! Before I met you I didn't care about anyone in the world except myself. But suddenly, now that I've opened up to care about you I can't keep myself from worrying about other people too. It's like some damned infectious disease." Shego breathed deeply. "So many people... innocent people, hurt or in pain because of things I did." She looked to Kim. "Things I'm still doing."

"You can't leave me because of something I once felt for Ron," said Kim.

"I didn't say I was leaving," said Shego. "Just that I'm worried. I've never loved anyone more than myself before. I'm kinda scared at that whole revelation."

Kim smiled slightly. "I've never loved a woman before," she said. "I probably should be a little unnerved about that, but I'm not." She put her hand to Shego's face and the pale beauty leaned into it instinctively. "We can't save everyone from harm any more than we can control the way other people feel." Kim looked deeply into Shego's eyes. "I'm sorry for being manic recently. The truth I don't want to accept is that I can't control anything that happens in the future. The only thing we can ever do is fight for what we feel right now and what we want right now."

Shego looked so much like a little lost girl that Kim could hardly believe she was standing against one of the most successful thieves in the world.

"Shego," Kim continued. "Ron is a like a brother to me, but that's all. I _love_ you, more than I've ever loved anyone else. And I want you in my life. I will fight anyone and anything to keep you near me. But I still have a family, so please don't get worried when I run off to protect my brothers and parents. When they need me, I have to be there." Kim smiled warmly. "I think you know about that already."

Shego blushed then nodded. "Geeze, what have you done to me, Kim Possible?" she said, softly.

"Nothing you didn't want yourself," Kim replied, softer.

Despite the chaos of the last five days of their lives, two lovers found a quiet moment of solace before slumber.

---( KP )---

"Maya."

In the dark, reds, yellows, oranges, mixed with dark blues and black, dancing in the abyss in a tribal celebration. Soft crackling could be heard and a warm heat pressed against her as cool wetness dripped down her face.

"Maya?"

The smoke cleared and the dance resolved into a raging fire, burning deep in a forest, surrounding a small but once homey looking house. With a rumble, the ceiling of the private dwelling cracked then collapsed in on the house. She could feel strong hands grip her shoulders as she tried to run towards the inviting flames. Looking up, she could see the young face of a woman with short brown hair, and a swath cut from her left cheek to her forehead with her eye held tightly closed and bloody. She looked grimly on at the flames, her teeth grit as blood slowly crept down her smooth face.

"Madam Tromper?"

Although the scene suddenly dissolved in her mind, there was no doubt that it wasn't just a dream. She had really been there, standing before that fire, only yesterday.

Maya opened her eyes and focused on the man before her. He was an older man, probably older than Maya's father is -- was, with deep groves across his brow and beside his eyes, like he often spent time scowling but was now kindly trying to appear sincere. He wore a suit with a golden badge hanging from his coat pocket identifying him as a detective.

The dark lines around his mouth moved and the man spoke in simple, short words. He had asked if she was okay.

"Oui," Maya answered affirmatively. "Que se produit après?" What will happen to me now?

The detective looked surprised and awkwardly looked to the other officers in the room for guidance before turning back to Maya and replying in French. "Do you have any other family you know of?"

Maya shook her head. Murmurs briefly faded into the room as the other officers spoke amongst themselves. Maya could pick out words, barely auditable from the mumblings, like 'romani', 'drifters' and, of course, 'gypsy.'

"We're going to bring you to a nice place where people will take care of you," said the detective, finally. He tried to smile but Maya could see right through it. He was trying not to look a grim as the news he was delivering.

"Orphanage," Maya said, breeching the topic.

The detective sighed. "Yes," he nodded. "They will care for you there and you'll be safe."

Maya nodded. She didn't know much, but her parents had often talked of the evils of 'social services' (whatever those were) of which orphanages was one of them. It didn't matter anyway. Maya didn't care what happened to her anymore. Her parents were one thing but without Anna, she might as well have died with the rest of them.

As if psychic, the detective suddenly asked, "Do you know the family of the girl that was with your parents?"

Maya looked towards the ground. "She was mine," she said. "She had no one else."

The detective frowned, confused, but didn't press the issue. There were other ways of tracing identity and this girl needed to be taken somewhere to be with kids her own age. Maybe there she would start to heal and liven again.

But the detective knew from experience with other kids, after losing everyone she ever knew in that fire, it would be a long time if ever to normalcy. He wished he could do more, but after taking the eleven year old to the orphanage, his responsibilities towards her would be over.

---( KP )---

It was cold, and the orphanage had few heaters. The children knew that odds were it would reach dangerous temperatures tonight if they didn't find a way of curling together beneath the thin blankets some might get sick or even worse. Benoite had collected a few candles over the season and had unearthed them to light and bring just a bit of heat to the dark room. One by one the girls moved towards the light and huddled together, feeling more like a family than many had experience in years.

Maya joined the group early, unwilling to die during the night from frost and when enough had joined them, she brought her hands slowly to the flame and moved them like her mother had taught her. The light glowed around her fingertips and warmed her hands, but on the distant wall, shadows danced like puppets across an imagined stage.

The other girls laughed and cheered quietly, lest they attract the attention of the matrons. Rabbits and dogs, cats and horses played with each other in a virtual farm. Sheep jumped over fences and dogs chased balls and each other. A bird flew free from the rest, soaring up the walls and across the ceiling as if free. There it joined a flock of other birds that flew in formation across the mauve painted sky.

Maya thought about the birds flapping free and wondered if she'd ever be free from this place. Her hands dropped on their own and she retreated back into the blanket.

The other girls complained and begged her to bring back the rabbits and horseys but Maya just shook her head.

"There are no rabbits," she said softly. "They're just shadows."

The girls continued to bother her and she eventually got up and faced the chill to retreat to her bed, staring at the wall. Wrapping her sheet around her tightly she tried to fight off the cold. She rubbed her arms slowly.

Another blanket suddenly descended around her and Maya looked up to see another girl sitting next to her on the bed. She was about her age, with bright red hair, freckles, and pale blue eyes.

"Hey," she said casually. Maya said nothing, but was silently thankful for the blanket.

"All right then, I'll talk," she said, moving closer to her and wrapping the blanket tighter to keep in the cold. At least, Maya suspected that why she was doing it. She wasn't sure.

"I'm Esme," the girl said. "That was kinda cool, what you were doing back there."

Maya nodded, she supposed it was cool.

"You're really good at it," continued Esme. "Where did you learn that?"

"My mother," said Maya.

Esme nodded. "Was she a performer?"

"She was a..." Maya drifted off. She didn't really want to have to go into her family, it would take too much time and too much talking. "Yes, she performed."

"That's cool," said Esme. "My mom was a hairdresser. At least, that's what they tell me. I don't think I got her skills." She ran a hand through her tangled fiery hair. "Although I hear that hairdressers rarely do their own hair as well as others. Maybe I can give it a try on you someday?"

Maya grimaced. "Maybe later," she said, hoping that 'later' would mean decades.

"Great!" cheered Esme. "Maybe you could teach me some of that shadow stuff too?"

"Maybe," said Maya. For some reason Esme's unbridled enthusiastic was somewhat comforting, and insanely infectious. Maya struggled to remain her stoic self, but felt herself cheering up slightly anyway.

"Were you at the courtyard last Tuesday when Delphine got stuck in the prickle bush?" asked Esme.

Maya smiled, despite herself. "Yes," she nodded. "How her sweater kept getting tangled?"

"Yeah, and the more she struggled the more she got tangled!" said Esme. "Then she tried to take off the sweater and her hair got stuck while she took it off."

"She was stuck halfway out of her sweater and still attached to the bush," finished Maya. She felt bad laughing at someone's misfortune, but Delphine was a bully who'd beat on her a few times. She didn't honestly deserve Maya's pity.

Esme laughed at the memory with Maya and the chuckles helped keep them warm as the night wore on.

---( KP )---

"Okay okay," said Maya with a wide smile. She grabbed Esme's shoulders and forced her onto the chair before the computer. "Just try it out," insisted Maya.

Esme raised a eyebrow and smiled playfully. "All right," she said experimentally with a laugh. Tossing her long, luxurious hair behind her, she settled before the screen and placed her thin fingers on the keys.

They were in the meager computer lab at the public high school in Carcassonne, near to where the orphanage was located. They had a few PCs there, moderately powerful, but the students were given free enough reign that they could install any software they wanted so long as they didn't mind it being erased the next morning when the PCs were re-imaged. Maya had discovered a love for programming a few years back and Esme had always encouraged her. Maya felt she should pay back the favor.

Maya rested her chin on Esme's left shoulder and pointed at the screen by reaching over her right shoulder. "Click there."

"All right," giggled Esme. She did as she was told.

The screen faded then came to life again. On the screen was a simple prompt with a question mark.

"Okay?" said Esme. "So...what's next?"

"Ask it something," said Maya, grinning.

"Like what?" asked Esme, turning her head to face Maya's.

"Anything," Maya said simply. She shivered as Esme's breath tickled against her cheek because they were so close. She faced her, their noses brushing slightly. "Just ask it anything at all."

Esme looked back to the screen. Her fingers danced across the keys. "What is this all about?" she voiced while typing. She smiled radiantly.

The screen hung for a second then replied:

IF I CORRECTLY ESTIMATE YOUR QUESTION, THIS IS ABOUT SHOWMANSHIP.

Esme looked at the screen strangely. She typed again. "Showmanship?"

THE PRACTICE OF CREATING SUSPENSE BEFORE THE PRIMARY RELEVATION.

Esme smiled. "What revelation?"

THE NATURE OF MY PROGRAMMING.

"Well, what is the nature of your programming?"

I AM A FULLY FEATURED INTELLECTUAL CONSTRUCT.

"What is an intellectual construct?"

A VIRUAL PERSONALITY, DESIGNED TO SIMULATE LIVING RESPONSE, USING A CHARACTER MODEL AS A GUIDE FOR RESPONSE.

"An artificial intelligence?" asked Esme.

NO, I AM INCAPABLE OF CHANGING OR ADAPTING, I CAN ONLY RESPOND ACCORDING TO THE GUIDES OF THE PERSONALITY I WAS IMPRINTED WITH. I DO NOT GROW, ONLY EMULATE.

"What personality were you imprinted with?"

I AM CURRENTLY FOLLOWING THE GUIDES OF A FABRICATED PERSONALITY CREATED BY MAYA TROMPER. HOWEVER, I HAVE BEEN IMPRINTED WITH A SECOND PERSONALITY.

"Oh really?" Esme smiled. "Who are they like?"

IF I CORRECTLY ESTIMATE YOUR INTENTIONS, YOU WISH ME TO SWITCH TO THE ALTERNATE IMPRINT. CORRECT?

"Sure, why not."

The screen faded again and Esme looked anxious. Maya laughed at her excitement. After a few seconds, the screen faded to a faded orange color and then a 3D model of a head appeared. It quickly rendered and softened and then Esme gasped.

Her own face looked back out of the screen, somewhat passively, but with a slight curl to the edges of her mouth as if she was thinking about something funny. It was Maya's favorite look on her and the one she knew best.

"This personality construct," the Esme on the screen started, "Is based off Esme Jay, but I guess you already know that, since you sound just like me."

The real Esme looked back at Maya. "This is incredible," she said. "You did this all yourself?"

"The imaging was easy to learn from the books in the library," said Maya. "But the personality programming is all mine." She looked bashfully at her. "I hope you don't mind that I... used you a model."

"Are you kidding?" asked Esme. "This is great. How well does she resemble me?"

Maya shrugged. "Pretty good," she said. "It's limited by the old computers. A fully featured version would require something a lot more powerful. But for casual conversation, she can figure out what you're talking about pretty well."

Esme laughed and typed again. "So, what do you think about yourself?" she asked.

The model on the screen paused and the expression changed to a thoughtful one. Then, moments later, it changed to something more content. "I think I'm pretty easy going, but easily excitable. Other people probably think I'm strange, but that's their problem. I like who I am even if others don't. I've had a pretty lousy childhood but I tend to take it in stride."

The virtual Esme's expression softened and she looked startlingly alive. "My best friend is Maya Tromper, who programmed this virtual interpretation of the real Esme Jay. She's a real off-beat kinda gal who probably could use a makeover but is otherwise a marvelously unique, fun, and amazingly intelligent girl who just needed an easily excitable person like me to break her out of her shell."

Maya blushed and backed away nervously, trying to hide her embarrassment.

The virtual Esme continued. "I know she adores me and that makes me happy in a way, that someone can appreciate my nature. I hope we get to be together forever."

The real Esme turned to look at Maya who was desperately trying to hide in the corner of the room.

"I--I'm sorry," Maya blurted. "I didn't program a response for a question like that so it was just guessing... extrapolating based on information I gave it about you and some random events and oh god please don't be upset."

Maya could feel sweat beading on her forehead. Why did Esme have to ask that question? Who on earth asks _themselves_ what they think about their own personality?

"Wow," said Esme looking at Maya with an odd expression. "It's... uh, pretty accurate." She stood up and slid her hands into her pockets. She swayed nervously.

"I can fix it," said Maya. "If it's too weird, I mean, I'll get rid of the personality -- replace it with, uh, Jean Reno or someone who won't--"

"Maya."

"I... uh, yeah?"

Esme looked around the room, picking anywhere to focus except on Maya's face. "Do you... like me?" she asked, in a small voice.

Maya was surprised. "O-of course! Of course I like you! I love you!" She blushed furiously. "Er-- wait, that's not what I meant."

"Really?" asked Esme, quietly. "You love me?"

"I--eerr..." Maya felt her brain turn to smoke and flow freely out her ears. "I-I'm not ... may-maybe?"

Esme looked up at Maya and the latter felt like she was standing at a crossroads of a busy intersection, afraid of stepping in any direction at all for risk of being hit by a speeding car. Her fingers tingled with energy, her body aching to make a step forward but her mind reeling, telling her to wait for someone to rescue her.

Her body won out and she stepped blinding into the road.

"Yes," Maya said, holding her arms across her chest and staring furiously at her feet. "I've been... in love with you for a long time. You're so... amazing... and fearless and... you give real life to things that have only ever been illusions to me. Just shadow puppets on the wall."

Maya shivered even though it was summer. She prayed that Esme wouldn't tell everyone, that she'd let her be just a strange girl and turn her away kindly. She wasn't the vengeful sort, she liked people being who they were, she wouldn't change just because Maya had fallen for her, would she.

A warm hand touched her trembling shoulders and Maya realized with terror that Esme was standing right in front of her.

"I--!" started Maya but something stole the breath right from her lips. She panicked, worrying she couldn't breathe, that she could collapse in shock right after doing something incredibly embarrassing---

Oh!, Maya's mind realized as it caught up with the signals coming from her body. She's kissing me.

She's pretty good too.

Maya's mind decided to check out and just let her body run things for a few minutes. Her body was greatly appreciative.

---( KP )---

High school graduation was the mark of many things for the students of the relatively large high school: the end of mandatory schooling, full days of classes, putting up with people whose only similarity to you was their proximity to the school, and the start of the last summer vacation. For Maya and Esme, though, it also meant freedom from the orphanage, which was very similar to freedom from tyrannical oppression or alien invasion in its level of subjugation it had inflicted on them. Seeing the light at the end of that tunnel was intoxicating.

The amount of alcohol they were drinking at the graduation party was _also_ intoxicating and the two girls laughed and partied with people they'd never previously gotten along with but were all suddenly bonded by the shared victory over public schooling.

As the party dragged along far into the night, the activities lessened and people were caught mostly sitting around, nursing a cheap drink, and chatting with the people they hoped they'd still be talking to in another four years.

Esme and Maya were sitting on a couch and drinking gin and tonics. To be precise, Esme was sitting on the couch and Maya was sitting on Esme. They laughed as they reminisced with some classmates about some of the funny things that had happened over the years, the chemistry experiment gone wrong, the bleachers collapsing during the soccer game, and of course Mr. Ackland's horribly tuned choir section.

Eventually the other students checked their watches and stood to bid their farewells, making empty promises to call or write or e-mail, as it was these days. Then they smiled as they vanished through the door, possibly never to again appear.

Maya leaned heavily against Esme as they themselves finally stood and put down their empty glasses. Maya was always the lightweight compared to the taller Esme. Together they staggered out of the club that the party was being held at and into the street, feeling the cool early summer night air.

"Now what?" asked Maya as they stood on the sidewalk. Well, Esme stood, Maya leaned.

"What do you mean, now what?" asked Esme, laughing. "We have to get you home or you'll collapse in the street."

"Nah, I'm fine," assured Maya, looking about the city at night. In the distance, Carcassonne fortress, and the surrounding Cité de Carcassonne, stood looming across the Aude, as it always did. It was pretty, Maya thought, the way it stood vigil over the lower city, even centuries after the end of the feudal days. Today it was mostly a museum, and occasionally a party house for celebrities.

"Always looking at that castle," said Esme. "You're so strange. Intellectual Constructs and Castles. What a combination."

"It's a fortress," said Maya. "And it's just an old memory, staring up at those ramparts with my mother. I can't remember what was happening then, I just remember looking at those walls and thinking they were indestructable."

Esme cocked her head. "You've never told me about that before."

Maya smiled widely. "Well, I don't want to reveal all my secrets, need to keep that air of mystery so you won't get bored of me."

"You don't have to worry about that," said Esme, bending to press her forehead against Maya's. "I'll be trying to decipher you for ages."

"I'm not sure that was the air I was trying for," said Maya.

"Eh, take what you can get," suggested Esme before kissing her.

A rumbling shook the ground, throwing the couple off-balance, causing them to clutch each other for support. The rumbling increased in intensity before finally culminating in an explosion nearby that threw fire and shrapnel into the air.

Maya grabbed Esme's hand and pulled them closer to the building the club was in, using the low overhang to protect them from the raining debris.

"What's going on?" asked Esme.

The two peered towards the source of the sound and saw a glowing intersection a couple hundred yards away, undoubtedly glowing from the fires. Maya had a flashback to her childhood and retreated slightly.

"It's okay, we don't have to check," said Esme, gripping Maya's arm in an assuring manner.

Just then, a group of men ran onto the street at the glowing intersection and started heading towards the two. The men were cloaked in black and following a leader with a set of dark armor on. Moments after they came into view, a series of dark blue suited men and women started appearing. First they came from behind then they started popping up out of buildings and rappelling from rooftops. As they got near the band of black cloaked men, one would break off and begin firing a pistol at the blue suited people to try to slow them while the leader got more distance from the pack.

"We should get out of here," said Maya. "We don't want to get caught in the crossfire."

Esme nodded and they retreated slightly away from the street the men were running down. Maya tried to pull them back into the club but Esme resisted, standing with her back against the building and looking around oddly.

"What is it?" asked Maya.

"I just wanted to see--" started Esme.

"This is dangerous," insisted Maya. "Please, Esme."

Esme looked down at Maya and then softened. "All right," she said. "Lets go inside."

"Thanks," said Maya relieved. She grabbed Esme's hand and started to pull her back into the club.

Before they reached the door the first black cloaked man reached their street and looked around. Esme looked back then her eyes widened in shock.

"Hey, that's Laziero," she said, then immediately covering her mouth.

The man's head turned towards her immediately. Maya and Esme froze for a second. Then the man stared running at them.

"Run!" Esme yelled and pushed Maya towards the club. They reached the door and were about to open it when suddenly Esme felt her hair being yanked from behind. She screamed.

Maya turned at the sound. "Esme!" she called as the man named Lazario pulled her close and then brought a gun to her head. He pulled he into the middle of the street and held her roughly.

"Let her go!" yelled Maya.

"Run, Maya!" Esme called before the man yanked her hair again and told her to shush.

Several of the blue suited people arrived in the street and then froze when the saw the man.

"Don't come near me!" Lazario yelled. "Or she dies!"

"No!" yelled Maya.

"Let her go, Lazario," a woman's voice rang out. A woman strode confidently to the front of the group of blue suited people. She was dressed in darker colors than the rest, with short brown hair and wearing a black eye-patch over her left eye. "You're not getting anything from us."

Maya stared at the woman. She was old, older anyway, but in an instant she recognized her.

"You," she said in awe.

The woman looked at Maya briefly then paused and looked back. "Oh good god," the woman said, her eye wide.

Lazario looked over to see what had shocked the eye-patched woman and he also did a double-take. "Gisele?" he said, blinking.

Maya was confused and looked to Lazario. "You knew my mother?" she asked.

"Don't say any more," warned the blue suited woman. "Go inside, this doesn't concern you."

"Mother?" asked Lazario, surprised. He frowned and grit his teeth. "You said she was dead!" He turned to the blue suited woman.

"She knows nothing, leave her alone," said the woman. "Let go of your hostage without hurting anyone and we'll let you leave here."

"Director..." started one of the older men in blue suits.

"Later," she dismissed him.

"I don't think so," said Lazario looking at Maya. "I've got unfinished business with you, little girl."

"Let her go," said Maya at Lazario. "Trade for me."

"No!" yelled Esme before Lazario tightened his grip around her neck.

"You don't know her at all do you?" asked Maya, trying to remain strong.

Lazario looked down at the struggling girl in his arms.

"All right," said Lazario with a smile. "You come here and I'll let her go."

"Don't do it," the woman named Director said.

"Let her go first," said Maya, trying a gambit.

"Don't be stupid, girl," snapped Lazario. "When you're close, I'll release her."

"Maya..." struggled Esme.

"Fine," nodded Maya.

"Don't!" yelled Director.

Maya swallowed. She stepped forward slowly but determined. Lazario watched her with salacious eyes.

When she was still three paces away she stopped.

"Let her go," she repeated.

Lazario pushed the butt of his gun against the back of Esme's head. "Walk slowly forward," he instructed. Esme stepped forward, her eyes locked on Maya's filled with a mix of worry and anger. With each step Esme took forward, Maya stepped an equal distance towards Lazario.

"This is stupid," whispered Esme when they were shoulder to shoulder.

"Wait for me," said Maya quietly.

Another step and they were separated again. Maya was standing right before Lazario now, his gun still trained on Esme.

"One more step, sweetheart," Lazario said, his voice steeped in indignation.

Maya moved forward again and Lazario lashed his arm out quickly to wrap around her neck and drag her against his body. He pulled against her neck to make sure he had a good grip before putting his mouth next to her ear.

"Say goodnight to your friend," he hissed.

Maya's voice caught in throat just as Lazario fired once.

"ESME!" screamed Maya as she watched her body fall to the ground and a pool of crimson bloom from her head.

Lazario's gun was back at Maya's head and she felt the pistol's tip burn against her temple from the heat of it being fired.

"No call off your goons Dr. Director!" yelled Lazario over Maya's screaming.

"I wanted you alive, Lazario," said Dr. Director, staring at him with her good eye. "But I'm not that charitable."

"Come on, take a shot," he taunted. "Drop me without taking this bitch down too."

"Why... why... why..." Maya was wailing now, her eyes seeing only red.

"Shut up!" yelled Lazario.

"WHO ARE YOU?" Maya screamed.

"Just an old friend of your parents," said Lazario breathing hot, discomforting breath across her ears. She hated it passionately.

"His name is Lazario," said Dr. Director calmly. "He runs a criminal organization called the Black Seal. He's a scumbag, who has a little bit on everyone not strictly legit in this country." She wavered slightly in her strong look. "Even your parents, Maya."

"They wouldn't play, though," said Lazario, pulling on Maya's neck. "So I sent them an incentive."

"Your parents helped the police try to build a case against him but one of his goods came to kill them." Dr. Director shook her head. "He tried to kill you too, but I managed to get there in time to save you."

"An issue I'm going to fix," said Lazario.

"You killed my parents?" asked Maya, feeling her rage boil within her.

"I don't typically get my hands dirty, kid," Lazario said. "But I wish I had been there to shut their squealing, dirty mouths up personally. I wouldn't have screwed up and left you alive, either."

Maya couldn't take it anymore. She balled her fists and resigned herself to her fate. Twice she had had the things she cared about taken from her and this tie she wasn't going to let anyone get in the way.

She swung her fist up quickly and struck the gun in Lazario's hand. It jerked up and slipped off her forehead as she turned to kick him in the groin. His face contorted from the pain and he slipped to his knees, fully releasing his hold on Maya.

"Get down, Maya!" yelled Dr. Director.

Maya took a step back then swung he foot around, catch Lazario in the chin, knocking his head back and causing him to sprawl out on his back on the pavement, unconscious. Maya ran up to him and grabbed his gun, grabbing it by the barrel and smacked it across his face, causing him to spit blood.

"Maya, stop!"

Maya swung again, his face turned the other direction, blood splattering on the ground.

Maya swung again, but her hand was caught by a blue suited woman. "Don't," she said simply and shook her head. Maya gritted her teeth in anger then caught a glimpse of the other blue suited people approaching Esme's body.

Maya dropped the gun and turned away from Lazario to run to Esme. The woman watched her as she collapsed near the body, sobbing. Dr. Director stood beside the woman and sighed.

"We need to clean this up before the police get here," Director said. "Make it quick."

The woman nodded. "What about her?"

Dr. Director frowned. "She comes with us."

---( KP )---

"Justice?" asked Maya, covered in a blanket and yet still shivering in the back of a black van driving towards the airport.

"Do you mind if we speak in English?" asked Dr. Director, wearily. She had unbuttoned her tight collar and was writing on a tablet laptop -- something Maya had never seen before -- while they were riding. "My French is functional but not perfect. You do speak English, right?"

"You call what happened Justice?!" yelled Maya, in English this time.

"I guess so," mused Director. "No, Maya, I don't call it Justice."

"Then what? How can you call yourself 'Justice' and let ... let..." she struggled to continue. "Esme never did anything wrong!"

"No, she didn't," Doctor Director said. "At least, nothing I know about, but not everything we do results in the immediate balancing of the scales. It's more the big picture we deal with."

"If anyone survives to see it!" snapped Maya.

"This may not be the best time to talk about this," sighed Director. "You just lost someone very dear to you and this conversation will require a fair degree of clear-thinking."

"Where are we going?" asked Maya, trying to see out the front of the van.

"The airport," said Doctor Director. "There we go to Middleton."

"Middleton?" asked Maya. "I've never heard of it."

"It's a quiet Midwestern US city," said Director, then shook her head. "Or was, anyway. At the time it was a good place for us to discretely establish our operations as the regional Midwest headquarters of Global Justice."

"But..." started Maya. "This is the second time I've seen you here, in France."

"I didn't always work in Middleton... nor did I always work in GJ."

Maya paused. "And?"

"And anything else is classified," said Director, tapping on her bulky laptop.

"Great," sighed Maya.

"Of course, if you're really interested," continued Director. "There's a way for you to gain security clearance."

Maya frowned. "I don't think I want to know."

"Very well then," nodded Director. "I hate to ask but... were you... is there anyone else who we can contact about Ms. Jay?"

Maya looked slowly down. "No," she said.

"We'll see to it she has a proper burial," Director said. "Since she was killed because of our actions."

Maya buried her head in her hands. "What am I going to do?"

A few taps later Doctor Director looked up from her tablet. "It says here you were accepted into a prestigious technical institute. You were planning a education in computer programming."

"Computer science," said Maya. "On scholarship."

"Yes, I see," replied Director.

"You've been watching me?" asked Maya, wearily.

"Personally? No," the elder woman shook her head. "But I can call up your GJ file pretty easily. We monitor thousands of people in Europe related to criminals or criminal cases we've investigated. Just in case."

"In case we can get in your way, like today?" asked Maya, cynically.

Director sighed. "I never expected to see you again after that day, Maya," she said softly. "None of this was planned or even foreseen."

"Tell me about justice," said Maya suddenly. "How can you act outside of the law and call yourself justice?"

"We are infinitely more rigorous in our investigations," said Director. "Than any local police or federal agencies anyway. We circumvent the criminal justice process when it fails to convict known criminals and take care of them ourselves. Without jury."

"And that's justice to you?" said Maya, flatly.

"Maya," started Director. "Public justice relies on a system of averages. On average, more bad guys are convicted and more innocent people are spared from being victims. The big picture for them are the numbers of successes versus failures."

Doctor Director put her laptop down and adjusted her position. "Our big picture is that we violate due process, and we ignore publicly doctrined procedure and we do invade privacy, but we almost always find the perpetrator of the crime we're investigating, and we ensure they are duly punished."

"Like Lazario?" asked Maya.

"Organized crime is a difficult beast to manage," said Doctor Director. "Often we leave it up to local police in small cases. In the case of Lazario, we let the French police handle him. They failed. He committed a more global crime, so we stepped in to end it." She looked down. "A few minutes too late, I'm afraid."

Maya looked back out the windshield of the van. "Why are you brining me to the US?"

"I would like you to see our facilities," said Director.

"Why? Isn't it classified too?" asked Maya.

"Yes," nodded Doctor Director. "But I'd like to offer you a job."

Maya blinked. "A ... job?"

"If you accept it, there's no classification issues," nodded Director.

"But you're showing me first," said Maya.

"Yes," Director continued to nod.

"I sense an incongruity," said Maya. "You're not really giving me a choice."

"I said we violate a few personal liberties," said Director. "Welcome to your first GJ experience."

---( KP )---

"Agent Tromper?"

Maya looked up from her computer and saw Doctor Director standing in the doorway to her office. Well, her cubicle. She was holding a manila file.

"Betty," said Maya, surprised.

"I've got a project I'd like your expertise on," she said, walking over to her and putting the folder on the desk. "You might have a unique understanding of the subject."

The folder said 'Possible, Kim' on the cover.

"You're kidding?!" squealed Maya, quickly snatching up the file and flipping through it. "She's amazing!"

"I agree," nodded Betty. "Your I.C. project will be of particular use to this assignment."

"Robotic Simulator?" asked Maya. "You want me to write the AI for an android?"

"As you are quick to point out to me and others," said Betty Director. "I want you to write an I.C. for an android. Not an AI. We want duplicates of Ms. Possible, not self-aware super powerful liabilities."

"Ah, I get it," nodded Maya, unable to contain her glee over being asked to work on a project about Kim Possible, her idol.

"She'll be coming in to see the shell," said Betty. "I assume you'd like to meet her."

Maya nodded enthusiastically. "Yes!"

Betty laughed. "I realize that you've been studying her for your IC project from the first week you started working here, but please try to keep it civil while she's here. She's not exactly onboard with the whole project yet and we may need to convince her."

"I would never do anything to offend her," said Maya.

"I don't have to be assured of that," said Betty, turning to leave. "I just don't want you to do anything to offend GJ either."

"You have my word," said Maya, her nose already buried in the file.

Betty shook her head with a smile and left the cube. They were behind in their PossiBot project and this might be the one way of bridging the gap. Maya was a bit obsessive, especially over self-empowered, redheaded women, but she'd always channeled her energies towards constructive ends. She didn't have to worry, right?

Betty continued out of the division offices.

Back in her cubical, Maya looked at the picture of Kim Possible included in the file and sighed. "Don't worry, Kim," she said to the picture. "I'll make the most perfect agent of justice ever. You won't have to fear it. When it's done, it'll make sure nobody has to die in a dark alley ever again."

---( KP )---

With a start, Kim sat up in her bed and blinked her tired eyes. Her mind was buzzing with activity and she felt strangely out of place. Through her window, she could see the sun already high in the sky. She must have slept through most of the morning by now, her exhaustion over the last five days finally catching up with her.

Movement on the bed drew her attention to Shego, who was just coming awake as well. She shook her head and then suddenly bolted upright as if surprised. She frowned and looked to Kim who appeared equally unsettled.

"I just had the weirdest dream..." said Shego.

"I dreamt I was watching scenes from someone else's life..." said Kim.

"... I think I was somewhere in France ..."

"... but I wasn't in the dream at all, except for a bit at the end ..."

"... and I wasn't in it completely ..."

"... for some reason I could understand French ..."

"... and I think the dream was about--"

"... it was starring--"

Kim and Shego looked at each other as realization dawned over them.

"Maya," they said in unison.

They both turned away tried to dissect the parts of their shared dream, but it was fleeting, like river, and slipped through their fingers as they tried to grasp at it.

"I had no idea," said Kim, finally.

"I thought I had it rough," Shego agreed. "But she just can't catch a break."

Kim frowned. "Why did we dream the same thing?" she asked.

"And is it what really happened?" asked Shego.

A knock on the wall broke their dialogue and a few moments later Will Du emerged from the staircase. "Kim?" he asked. "I'm sorry to wake you."

"We're already up, Will," said Kim. "What is it?"

"The Indian Op," he said. "They discovered the Nakasumi factory abandoned."

"That's good," said Kim. Maybe it was a false lead but she hated to think what could have been going on in there.

"No, it's not," said Will. "We had a specialist look at the equipment and... it's pretty clear it had been reconfigured to build something other than toys. What's more likely is that the plant ran out of resources and was abandoned after it finished its job."

Kim sweated. "What were they building?"

"PossiBots," said Will. "Hundreds... maybe thousands of them." He shook his head. "Large crates were shipped from there to somewhere in France. We're still trying to track down where they went after they touched down but it's only a matter of time--"

"Carcassonne," said Shego.

Kim nodded. "She's in Carcassonne." She looked to Shego. "We need to get a flight out there right away."

Shego shook her head. "I can't get us to France in my jet, it's too far."

Kim looked to Will. "Will?"

"I'll call it in, but I doubt Ferris will say no now that GJ is back on duty. Pack your stuff." Will nodded and turned to head down the stairs.

"What do you think we'll find there?" asked Shego.

Kim frowned. "Everything."


	15. Silent Night, December 24th, 8 of 9

----------------

_Disney's_ Kim Possible in

**A Period of Silence: **

**SILENT NIGHT**

By Adam Leigh

Day 7

----------------

**DECEMBER 24TH**

It was no earlier than two o'clock in the morning when the military plane set down on a runway in rural France. Its occupants had lifted off only eight hours before but due to the time difference of flying west to east; the day had passed in a flash. Kim, Shego, Ron, many members of GJ, and Team Go all departed in a dreary formation and stared up at the starless night as if failing to believe what time it was.

Kim hadn't felt tired, not since the previous night when she dreamed things... that she shouldn't have been able to dream. The fact that Shego shared those dreams with her just made it that much more impossible. And yet, those were the facts, many of which were confirmed by Will Du during the ensuing flight. Kim began to wonder how much of her life had been strung on strange coincidences and last-minute rescues, the sort of hero's luck one would start to become skeptical about if not for the recent dreadful string of misery.

Will had updated Kim more on the Nakasumi plant raid in India during the flight. Apparently, based on surviving records and surplus parts, the estimate was that somewhere between three and four hundred PossiBots were manufactured there and shipped to Carcassonne. Ron had fretted about the possibility of three hundred bots impersonating people, children, police, and questioned whether they'd be able to trust anyone. But Kim assured him that there had been nowhere enough time to create three hundred unique ICs and that, in all likelihood, most of the manufactured PossiBots were still based on her own personality.

"Which will work to our advantage," Kim had said. "I really don't work all too well as a team, despite my best intentions. That means most 'bots will probably pursue independent attacks in lieu of cooperative ones."

"You're also generally non-violent but the ones in Colorado were quite the opposite," said Ron.

"I think they have some sort of an obedience circuit," said Kim. "Makes them have to follow Allucinere's commands, but they're still tied to my personality. If she says 'attack,' they'll fight until we yield, because I would never take a life if I could help it. But if she chooses her commands carefully, we could still be in trouble."

"I think she's right," Shego chimed in at that time. "At the convention center the PossiBots changed their tactics dramatically after Allucinere specifically told them to 'kill' us. They also never picked up a weapon against us, instead relying on hand-to-hand."

"Right, because Allucinere never said _how_ to kill us," nodded Kim. "She can't possibly keep close enough track of all them to issue individual orders, so she'll have to rely mostly on the decisions her ICs make, which means they'll probably want to avoid seriously injuring anyone and, like I said before, only reluctantly use group tactics."

Will had nodded then and took the information to the GJ agents in the plane. Several hours later, now, as Kim stared up at the sky, she regretting being so confident. There were so many things she didn't know about Allucinere, and her brief detour into her dreams had only raised questions rather than answering them. The whole thing was so surreal that it defied normal logic and Kim had to admit, there were many possibilities of how the PossiBots would react. There were many possibilities on how she, herself, would act.

"I'm a good person, right?" Kim asked Ron out of the blue as they walked across the tarmac to the hangar.

"Is that a trick question?" Ron said, surprised. "Of course you are. Nothing Allucinere has done is your fault."

"My family, _our friends_, are in danger, maybe suffering," said Kim. "If I hadn't crossed Maya the first time, they'd still be okay."

"There'll always be someone," said Ron, shrugging. "You can't control these villains, and you can't lower yourself to their level, so, in some capacity, you'll always have to deal with them."

"I don't know if I can keep doing this," said Kim.

"What happened to 'Kim Possible, she can do anything'?"

"That was just cheap marketing," said Kim.

"Oh, come on," gestured Ron.

"I'm serious," said Kim. "All I really wanted to do was be a baby sitter." She looked at the feet as she walked. "A small typo later and I was saving people from deadly security systems. Then there was the first rescue from that mudslide, and after that it was international."

"You trying to say you never chose this life," Shego suddenly said, appearing beside Kim. "That's bullshit."

"Shego..." said Ron.

"You may have gotten an unexpected start, but don't say after nine years you never wanted to be the hero you became," said Shego. Then she looked away. "It belittles those who suffered so you could succeed."

Kim's eyes widened.

"But I appreciate the difficulty in trying to quit once you've played the game this far," Shego finished.

With a sigh Kim looked up. "All those PossiBots are acting as if they were me and still doing all those atrocities. I'm just worried I really have those depths to myself. I've been angry before, furious even, and I've thought some pretty mean things. Have I always been just a hair away from being a villain?"

"Yes," said Ron, definitively. Kim looked at him in a surprised manner, but he continued on. "But it's a hair you'll never cross, and one Maya never recognized. It may only be a hair, but it separates you from her, which makes it as big as a mountain."

Ron half smiled. "Kim, for better or worse, these last few days I've seen a part of you that I didn't know existed, but I've enjoyed it. Whatever happens today, I just want you to know I am incredibly honored to have spent that time with you."

"You don't have to be so formal Ron," said Kim, abashed. "There'll be more days in the future."

Ron's smile faltered, but just for a moment. "Not like those," he said simply.

"Kim," Will Du's voice carried from behind them. He walked up and then matched their stride. "We've got preliminary intel from the first team to Carcassonne. They've tracked down the shipment to a warehouse on the Aude, but it's been cleared out."

"Great," groaned Shego.

"But very recently a bulk of the fortress at Carcassonne has been sealed off while it underwent 'restoration.' Word has it that those particular sections of the castle were in excellent shape." Will looked at his watch. "We set up heavy surveillance over the entire fortress. There should be an initial report available from the agent-in-charge there by the time we arrive."

"How many people will you have in total?" asked Kim. "Given that you think she's got over three hundred PossiBots."

"Total GJ resources number 120," said Will.

"Ugh, nearly three to one," said Shego.

"Including Team Go?" asked Ron.

"Yes," nodded Will. "Local police support can throw another thirty or forty in if we want to involve them. Actually, if we go all out on this, they'll probably at least respond to the disturbance."

"I just want to understand this correctly," said Shego, raising a hand. "We're going to be storming a castle."

Kim and Ron looked at her plainly.

"What?" asked Shego with a gleeful grin. "I just want to make sure I understand our stereotype right."

---( KP )---

Kim stared at the schematics of Carcassonne until her eyes crossed and then stared some more. She wanted to commit the entire blueprint to memory and was reluctant to admit that her brain just wasn't wired that way. She was smart enough, and knew how to make herself remember things for tests and reports, but she was never the one who could glance at something and then recall it verbatim later. She was hoping she could change that by concentrating hard enough.

"You've got smoke coming out of your ears," said a nearby voice lightly.

Kim looked up, startled, to see Mego standing beside her. They were both in one of the rooms of the building surveillance team occupied yesterday nearby to the fortress. While most of the agents from GJ had been hidden away in another area, the 'lead team', meaning the command GJ agents, representatives from the local police, as well as Team Go and Team Possible, were in this building. It was meager, and largely stripped down before everyone invaded and right now had many of its rooms repurposed. The room Kim and Mego were in was a planning area.

Mego himself was grinning slightly, standing somewhat proudly in his purple Team Go uniform. He sauntered over to Kim and looked at the castle plans. "I see," he said after a minute. "The castle must have been built in phases, with different architects. The way some of these rooms are placed, it must have been an afterthought."

"It's not intuitive," agreed Kim. "Which is why I'm trying to memorize it."

"Good luck," scoffed Mego. "I doubt even the architects remembered it while building it."

Kim sighed and rubbed her eyes.

"It's morning in Middleton now," he said kindly. "Will said he talked to his agents there. Your grandma and the FBI agent are doing well. No lasting injuries."

"That's a relief," Kim said, but her appearance didn't match the sentiment.

"Are you going to cut yourself a break anytime soon?" asked Mego with his brows raised.

"Not while she's still out there," said Kim with a determined nod. "Maybe when this is all wrapped up and over."

Mego looked to the side then moved to walk around the desk holding the blueprints. He stood directly opposite Kim. "Listen, I hate to be a devil's advocate," he started awkwardly. "But what if we bust in there and Allucinere's not there?"

"Then we'll find her," said Kim. "What else?"

"Do you get a break then?"

"Of course not!" yelled Kim. "How can I relax with so many people missing or in danger? What kind of person do you think I am?"

"The kind who burns themselves out at... oh, say, the end of high school because they never learned how to pace themselves," Mego said. He looked at her seriously.

Kim frowned, and felt angry. How dare he bother her with this right now? She can't be thinking about 'next' when there's still _now_ to be worried about.

"Shego wouldn't rest," said Kim.

"She is not your role model," said Mego. "And she knows better than to pursue a plan to her destruction."

"Not when it comes to you guys," said Kim. "She takes family seriously."

"Ah, yeah," Mego said with an awkward chuckle. "You've got me there. I can't say I've really understood sis all these years. Only recently have I begun to scratch the surface on her."

"She was just hiding her feelings to look cool," said Kim.

"This is from the girl who thinks she can move mountains if she concentrates hard enough," said Mego.

Kim sighed. "This isn't going to end like I want it."

"What?"

"No matter what happens tonight..." Kim pulled out a chair and nearly collapsed into it. She looked into her hands. "I can't imagine a happy end to any of this. It's gone too far."

"A happy end?" asked Mego, incredulously. "You serious?"

"Not... not everyone goes home happy and we all learn a lesson at the end," Kim rolled her eyes. "But... something right. Something that evens the scales."

Mego bit his lip. "It doesn't always work out that way," he said.

Kim nodded. "It won't this time." She looked up at Mego. He was looking down with a kind expression. "I can already tell."

"Don't defeat yourself before the battle's begun," he said. "If you don't believe you can win, you've already lost." He looked at the blueprints on the table. "That said, don't kill yourself trying to save everyone. Trust a little bit in your team. We might not let you down."

Kim laughed softly. Mego patted her on the shoulder and headed for the door.

"You've all become quite a team," said Kim. Mego stopped by the door. "If only..." she stopped.

"It doesn't help, does it?" asked Mego, turning his head.

"I just don't have the energy anymore," admitted Kim.

Mego hesitated. "I hate to encourage irresponsibility," he started, then paused for several moments. "But you're back in the limelight again. You're never going to get a break of any kind as long as people know where you are."

Kim frowned. "You mean--"

"I mean nothing." Mego raised his hands. "You'd best find my sister. All this waiting is not her style, I imagine she's getting stir crazy about now."

Shrugging, Mego slipped the rest of the way out of the room leaving Kim to herself and the blueprints.

---( KP )---

"There is a reason we're waiting, right?" asked Shego as soon as she heard Kim. She was sitting out on the street in front of the surveillance building when Kim finally found her. She was wearing a black top and olive slacks with her hair up in a ponytail. Kim had told her if she was going to be wandering about to not wearing her trademark colors lest Maya notice her, but the outfit she chose was actually more similar to her own.

"You're dressed like me," said Kim, rather surprised.

"That's definitely not a good enough reason to wait."

Kim sat down beside Shego. "Will wants to wait on the surveillance."

"One day of surveillance isn't going to give him squat and it just increases the odds of Allucinere noticing us," Shego grumbled. "Any good thief would tell you that lingering around your mark the day before the heist is a good way to end up in the box."

"We're not stealing anything, though," said Kim.

"We should be," said Shego. She turned to look at Kim. "Let's just go, you and me. We could be in before Allucinere knew a thing, grab her and walk her out with no fuss."

"The last time we jumped the gun on a plan what did we get?" asked Kim. "Nearly killed if not for your brothers showing up, and Allucinere was waiting for us with a trap." Kim shook her head. "She may know we're here, but even then our odds are better with GJ than on our own."

Shego frowned then turned back to stare out onto the street. "Don't let her rattle you like that," she said. "She got lucky a few times, doesn't mean she can read your mind. We can still surprise her."

"We don't know how she's tracking us or if she's tracking us. We can't rely on a surprise until we know for sure, so we're sticking with Will's plan."

"I don't like following other people's dumb plans," said Shego.

Kim blinked and stared at her.

"Oh, well--" started Shego, blushing.

"Please, you can't even begin to justify that statement," said Kim. "You've practically made it a career following other people's dumb plans!"

"Dammit Drakken, I don't even work for you anymore and you're still making me look like a fool," said Shego, shaking her fist. After a few waves, she suddenly stopped and slumped.

"Shego..." started Kim.

"Will he recover?" Shego asked, plainly.

Kim's mouth became a line. "It's possible," she said, sounding unsure.

"Senior didn't," said Shego.

"No," Kim shook her head. "He didn't."

Neither said anything for several seconds.

"It's bad?" asked Shego.

"The worse," nodded Kim.

"What's it like?"

Kim put hand to her forehead and sighed. "It starts by attacking your trust," she said, forcing herself to remember. "The people you trust, the things you trust in. Somehow it just pulls it right out of your brain, the things you trust the most." She breathed. "For me, I saw Ron."

"He was betraying your trust," said Shego.

Kim nodded. "He was making fun of me, then spreading lies about me, then goading my enemies into attacking at once, and finally attacking me himself. Torturing me. Each time was a different scenario. I wanted to believe that each one was just a dream but you _know_... somehow you just _know_ it's not a dream. That it might be real. That it is real."

Kim looked up, but her eyes were hollow. "He would tell me things, like how he loved me and cared for me, then twist a knife in my gut and laugh -- a cackling laugh -- for being so stupid to believe him. Then it would happen again. Just a dream. I wanted to scream out that it was a dream, but it wasn't."

"It was a nightmare," said Shego, softly running her hand on Kim's back.

Kim breathed deep. "Then it attacks your faith," she said. "Things you believe in, things you've always known to be true. You'll see your parents, your friends, your brothers, all turning on you -- on each other. You lose all traction that way. You can't trust anyone and nothing you believe is true, there's nothing to base your reality on anymore. All you have left is what you see, and the only thing that damned device will show you is misery."

"Then," Kim sucked in her breath quickly. "When everything has worn away, when you've lost everything you know, your mind will just slip away. There's nothing left grounding it anymore, so it's like finally finding that dream you've been wishing it all was from the beginning."

Kim looked over at Shego, her face pale. "Breaking out of it -- forcing myself away from the horror -- was the hardest thing I've ever done in my entire life." She looked down. "And I couldn't do it again."

Shego stared back, unmoving, before finally turning away. "I'm sorry."

"Senior Senior Senior was a strong man," said Kim. "But I think he had more to lose than me. I could still believe that even if all I saw was true, I had time to make thing better. I don't think Senior could believe that. In his mind, he really had nothing."

Kim shook her head remembering the report from Wade about Senior. Even though he was in a hospital when he did it, they couldn't save him in time.

"You still have more to live for," said Shego, defiantly. "You can do it again, if you need to." She looked slightly weaker all of a sudden. "Can't you?"

Kim leaned against Shego, still looking stoic but some of the color returning to her cheeks. She smiled sadly. "You don't know what its like," she said softly.

---( KP )---

"Okay, everybody," said Dash Demond as he stood in the planning room before two dozen people. Everyone, save for two groups in the back, were dressed in with Global Justice combat uniforms and probably armed to the teeth. Kim, in one of the two non-conformist groups in the back, looked on uneasily at the multitude of weapons and shook her head. She wasn't sure what she thought about the PossiBots, but even if they weren't alive she was still reluctant to use lethal force on anything that even resembled a human.

"Does everyone understand the plan?" asked Dash. "Remember, there are four target points that we feel are most likely to contain Allucinere. She's the primary target along with any means she may have for controlling the PossiBots. As soon as any team confirms Allucinere's location, call it in and all the other teams will move to join."

Dash polled for questions again and when nobody said anything, he nodded towards Will who was standing in the corner. "Agent Du?"

"All of you have been specially equipped with one of these," said Will, holding up a small rod like a thin flashlight. An indigo light emitted from the end and he waved it around the room. "Thanks to the geniuses in our R&D department, we have a means of telling friend from foe. The light emitted from these tube will disrupt the holographic projections from a Luminocodec, revealing the true person or robot beneath the illusion."

Will turned off the light and put it on the table. "It's not perfect, but give it a try before shooting anyone or anything. We can't have any mistakes tonight."

"Is that what Wade and your brothers were working on?" asked Shego.

"I'm not sure," shrugged Kim. "I haven't heard from Wade in a couple days and Will won't say anything more than 'he's at GJ headquarters.'"

"Sounds suspicious," said Shego but then said nothing more.

Will dismissed the room and teams Go and Possible stood aside while the various team leads for the GJ squads filed out. Team Impossible, Will Du and a couple of the GJ commanders lingered behind.

"Kim," said Will, waving over the two groups. "I want you to go ahead on the north-west 2nd group, which will be one of the follow-up entry teams. Odds are better you'll have a more clean route through the castle."

"I don't need to be coddled, Agent," said Kim, a little annoyed.

"Maybe not," admitted Will. "But this way you have to fight fewer PossiBots and stand a better chance at getting to Allucinere first. I've seen you in action enough to know you can handle yourself, and all things considered, you probably know her tactics better than anyone." He looked between Kim and Dash. "Don't worry, I want you to be in front."

"We'll take a more direct approach," said Hego. "South entrance, first team."

"Er-- oh. Okay," said Will, looking back over the blueprints. "I though you might want to escort Kim."

"You said it yourself, she can handle this on her own," said Hego. "And we're better as a distraction. If we go in strong we'll draw them forward leaving rear teams with less to combat."

"Are you sure?" asked Kim, frowning at Hego.

Hego smiled. "We'll rely on your finesse while we break down the front door. We'll call it a 'Go-ordinated' attack."

Kim made a weak smile.

"We only have about a day and a half of recon," said Dash. "But based on what we've seen, our best time to move in will be at 10:30pm. That's in twenty minutes. If you all don't mind heading to where your squads are stationed, we're ready to start this sortie."

"Right," nodded Kim. She turned and looked at Ron, then Shego. They both nodded approval and then turned towards the door.

"Good luck, brothers," Shego said over her shoulder just before leaving. Kim saw the four Team Go members smile slightly, as if happy to finally be on their sister's radar.

"Thank you," Kim said to everyone left before nodded and following her team. Once outside, Kim ran up to Shego and leaned closely in so that no one could hear their talking.

"Are you ready?" said Kim.

"As ready as I'll ever be," shrugged Shego.

"Did you take care of... you know?" said Kim, cautiously.

"We're good to go," nodded Shego slightly. "Assuming we survive."

"Gotta have hope," said Kim.

"Yeah..." agreed Shego, blandly. "What else do we have?"

They reached the location of the squad they were assigned to. Five GJ soldiers stood ready, checking their guns and the status of their newly assigned indigo flashlights, before simply waiting to the countdown being sent over radio.

Kim peeked beside the building they were staged at and stared at the towering figure of the fortress at Carcassonne. She remembered her dream, the feeling she had looking up at the place in Maya's shoes. The awe was still there, even though it had not originally been hers.

She still had no idea what to think about that dream. Only she and Shego had it, not Ron or any others in the house at the time. Even if it was true, how did it happen? Kim had the vague impression she'd been involved in somewhat precognitive dreams before but couldn't remember when or what they were about. Forcing herself to remember her experiences with the PH Device earlier today had actually struck a chord with her dream. If she hadn't known better, she could have sworn the feeling she had during that dream was just like when Maya put the PH device on her. But that was impossible. She was guarded by the best of GJ at the time and those spidery devices were designed to cause pain, not transfer memories.

"Hey," a deep voice said beside Kim and she looked to see Dash beside her, prepping his gun. He held out a pistol and several clips to Kim. "You'll probably want these."

Kim shook her head. "They're not my style. Like I said at the briefing, the PossiBots won't use guns unless directly ordered and I know that because I wouldn't either."

"They're just machines," said Dash, but pocketing the pistol. "No need to be sentimental."

"They look human," said Kim. "They look like me, actually. The psychological ramifications of shooting myself are staggering. I'd rather just avoid it."

Dash frowned and looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "We _can_ count on you, right?"

Kim scowled and stepped right up to Dash and, despite his towering physique, he took a half-step back. "This is a nightmare for me," she said forcefully. "I will do everything I can do end it."

Dash blinked but kept his grim expression. "Good," he said, then grabbed her hand and pushed something cold and metal into it. "Then if you get a line on her, I can count on you to take the shot."

He turned and walked away before Kim could protest.

Shego, however, was properly prepared. "Don't you hate it when a sourpuss _dashes_ all your plans?"

Kim looked at her.

"What?" asked Shego. "It's funny."

---( KP )---

The countdown was silent, the simple ticking down of watches around Carcassonne. GJ agents readied their guns and Luminocodec revealers and tried not to think about their palms sweating or the lack of light thanks to the cloudy night. Nobody wanted to think about the three to one odds against them, especially considering the enemy was an army of super-strong androids, but they did. They couldn't help it. It was a poorly prepped attack, against a strong and intelligent enemy who's complete plan had not yet been revealed. But there was a deadline to consider. Christmas, the Maya-PossiBot had said, would be when her agenda would come to fruition and that was only an hour away.

_Tick_.

The last minute before the battle began. Kim looked at Shego and Ron who looked at her back. Kim could remember days of a simpler life, when the worst thing she had to worry about was failing a test at school or looking bad at he next dance. She remembered when her enemies were silly, but honorable, and while dangerous, largely non-lethal. She remember when her allies could be counted on a hand but they were trustworthy until the end of days.

Glancing around at the five GJ agents around her, she didn't know any of them. She'd learned their names during the staging, but little else. Did they have families? Friends? Was their whole life contained to their GJ Agent status or was there more? If they died in this battle, would anyone not in uniform grieve?

Kim would, she knew. Even if she didn't know their names, she would weep at the end of this. Shed the tears she'd refrained from shedding over the last two years. Cry for the soldiers around the world who died because of Allucinere. She'd cry for the friendships that were shattered by her first arrival. She'd cry for the not entirely innocent but completely unnecessary death of Senior Senior Senior, and the carefree life of his son that was harshly tossed aside when he succeeded the financial empire.

Most of all, though, she'd cry for herself. She wasn't even sure if she was using the word 'innocent' right anymore, she'd long lost her own claim to it. She had such plans, such ambition, only to have life crush her to a dust, forcing her to rebuild, to forge new friendships strong, and even learn to love again.

But then Allucinere returned to crush it all again. Maybe this was a sign. She didn't deserve the happiness she reached for. Or maybe she just didn't belong in the world she was trying to create.

"Don't do it," said Ron, softly.

Kim looked at him, surprised.

"Just get through tonight," he continued. "Worry about your life afterwards."

"Ron," said Kim.

"He's right," said Shego, nodding. "Don't distract yourself."

"Shego," Kim slowly smiled. She tried to rid herself of her depressing thoughts and was suddenly overwhelmed by another feeling that twisted her gut in a knot. Before her, about to run into the fray of a terribly dangerous battle, were two people she loved more than any others in the world and who loved her in return. They were different types of love, one romantic, one familial, but they were equally strong. Impossibly strong.

_This is special!_ Her heart cried out loudly. How many times does a person form such powerful bonds and she had done it with two people. She barely deserved such tenderness from either and yet they gave it to her freely.

"I--" started Kim. She had to say something, something to sum up everything she was feeling. What were the words? How do you express something so abstract but so incredibly important? She wasn't a writer or a poet, she knew nothing of how to turn language from simple letters and words into beauty. How would they say it? Was it possible to even be said?

"I--" started Kim again, feeling the confused expressions on her friends faces and wished she could just open her mind and share with them her feeling.

_Tick_.

And then it was too late.

Without a word the GJ agents started to move, rushing forward and storming the castle. Kim, Ron, and Shego were with a second wave, so they didn't go first, but already all attention was on the first team. It was too late to say anything heartfelt now.

Kim closed her eyes and promised herself she would, when this was over. She would let them know how important they were to her.

The first explosion surprised her and she jumped. Turning her head south she could see the pillows of dark smoke rising from the front gate where Team Go and over thirty GJ agents were undoubtedly rushing into the castle. She hoped the explosion was good, that it meant several PossiBots were disabled and maybe that Hego was using his incredible strength to toss boulders. But the scared part of her, the weaker part, imagined PossiBots swarming the heroic team like wasps, converging and descending.

Closer, the first GJ team from Kim's staging area reached the wall and started to scale. They scrambled up as fast as running on land and were on the portcullis within moments. They immediately brought up their arms and seconds later they were firing at PossiBots, looking identical to Kim in her mission outfit, flying through the air at them. Largely they ignored the first wave of shots, flashing slightly as the metal ricocheted off their shiny metal skin.

Every now and then one of the GJ agents would swing their gun around and the indigo light would sweep over a group of PossiBots, revealing, for just a fraction of a second, their cold metal interiors and hydraulic joints. It was like pealing away someone's skin to the bone and seeing their white skeleton gleam in the pale light. Kim shivered when she saw it and tried not to imagine her own innards looking like that. She was real. The real Kim Possible. Not a robotic clone. Her mind repeated this mantra but fear was irrational, and each time the purple light randomly started moving her way, her muscles tensed.

Minutes passed and Kim had to keep herself from rushing out every time she saw a GJ agent fall to the ground. She knew this would happen, that the battle would have losses on either side, but she'd never been involved in something like this before. Her battles were vicious but bloodless. Even her first take-down of Allucinere had resulted only in her own injury, since she came alone.

But this time, Allucinere was better prepared. There wouldn't be an all happy end.

"Ready?" asked Shego, looking back at Kim. Kim only nodded. Words would only betray her.

They turned their eyes towards the wall. The first team had all but disappeared over the top edge, leaving their ropes behind which Kim and her team would use to climb. The GJ team had expressed interest in blowing open the wall, but the local police vehemently protested, saying that Cite do Carcassonne was a historical landmark and anything _can_ could be done to preserve it _must_ be done. Kim idly wondered at the time if they would have preferred Allucinere's domination over Carassonne instead, but kept it to herself.

The tiny radio in Kim's ear lurched to life unexpectedly. "This is team Santiago at site 'Tango'," it said. Tango was one of the probably locations of Allucinere. Kim bit her lip as she listened, hoping this was already over. "There's a helluva lot of enemy here but no target! Repeat, no target!"

One down, Kim checked off mentally. That left three other sites.

"B-teams, GO!" Dash's strong voice was easy to discern over the other chatter. Kim got to her feet and launched herself forward, dropping all other issues aside. She had to be playing at her A-game tonight.

Shego and Ron kept pace beside her easily and they were flanked by the rest of the GJ agents they were assigned to. Each step felt heavier than the last but Kim pushed through it. It wasn't that she was out of shape, but it felt like she was marching towards her own doom.

In moments they reached the wall and were climbing. She and Shego had a slightly easier time than Ron did but he was keeping up. He had to be in better shape than he was when they last fought together to be able to do as well as he was. Kim silently complemented him as they climbed upwards.

Then she saw it, the figure at the top of the wall looking down. It was herself, as she had grown to see as the enemy over the last few days, but she was holding a strange looking gun and pointing it downwards at all of them.

"Look out!" screamed one of the GJ agents and they began to scatter, some rappelling to the side, other down and still a few climbing higher. Kim strove to climb higher as Ron lurched to the side and Shego tried to match Kim.

Some of the GJ agents had pulled out guns and were firing at the PossiBot but it simply aimed and fired.

The beam was ring shaped and glowed green as it expanded broadly outwards striking two GJ agents and Kim and Shego. She held her breath as it struck her but, strangely it passed right through and she felt fine, unaffected.

"URRUGH!" came a gurgle and Kim looked over just in time to see Shego grow stiff, her eyes rolling up and her hand letting go of the rope. Kim's heart lurched as she let go of her own rope and launched off the wall towards the falling figure. With practiced form she grabbed Shego around the waist and reached out to snag another rope with which to slow her fall. They still struck the ground hard but Kim quickly pulled Shego to cover.

Kim heard more shots and shouts but ignored them as she stared at Shego, slapping her face gently. "Shego! Come back to me," she said softly.

After a few moments Shego's muscles loosened again and she focused on Kim once more. "Oh god," she said putting a hand to her head. "I feel like I just went on a bender."

"It only affected you," said Kim.

"I know," nodded Shego, her eyes closed as she breathed deliberately. "It caused my symbiote to freak out."

"What?" asked Kim. "How is that possible? How does Allucinere even _know_ about--"

"She was at GJ when I went after Mason," said Shego slowly. "That part makes sense. But how did she make a weapon so fast? Have we heard from DN Amy since that time?"

Kim shook her head. "I didn't even think to. She wasn't involved in the first round so I didn't figure she'd be involved this --" Kim stopped suddenly. "Drakken."

"Drakken?" asked Shego, then it dawned on her. "Oh, man, that's why she attacked him."

"He knew about the source of your powers?" asked Kim.

"I never told him directly," said Shego, rubbing her forehead. She tried to stand up and though a little wobbly, she managed it quickly. "But we were together long enough he could have figured it out." She flexed her fist. "Let's get back in there."

"Are you sure?" asked Kim. "They have a weapon that's uniquely debilitating to you."

"No more uniquely than a gun," said Shego. "I'll just be more careful."

Kim frowned but turned back towards the wall and ducked out from under the trees they were using as cover. She could see several GJ agents fighting on the wall and Ron was looking down by the ropes.

"You okay?" yelled Ron.

Kim and Shego ran up to the wall again and started to climb. This time their ascent was uneventful and they joined up with Ron and the GJ agents who were reloading.

"I'll manage," said Shego, finally. "Which way?"

A GJ agent pointed and they quickly ran in the direction indicated.

---( KP )---

Things didn't get easier once they were inside.

Kim stared down the stone hallway from over and saw the group of five PossiBots on the other end firing back with regular pistols. She grimaced and looked back at Ron, Shego, and the two GJ agents who were on the opposite side of the hallway opening as Kim and one other agent. The gunfire had caught them off-guard and they had dove to opposite cover to escape it. Now they were stuck.

The GJ agents took up covered positions and tried to return fire but the PossiBots were also behind cover and not easy targets.

"Looks like they're using guns after all," called Shego from the other side.

"I've noticed," yelled back Kim. "Allucinere must have ordered them to."

"Team Gromit," came a voice in Kim's ear. She tried to listen to the radio over the gunfire. "We're at site Epsilon and there's no target! Repeat, no target!"

Kim sighed and leaned against the wall. "That leaves two more," said Kim. "Both on this side of the fortress."

"One north, one south," said the GJ agent beside her. "We gotta be close to the target, none of the other teams have reported armed Bots."

Kim looked over at Shego. Her expression didn't please Kim.

"We're not splitting up," Kim said quickly over the fire before Shego could even suggest it.

"We're wasting time this way," yelled Shego. She peeked around the corner and held out her hand towards the PossiBots. Her fist glowed green then suddenly exploded with luminescent fire, throwing small gobs of it everywhere down the corridor then quickly dissolving. "Shit!" cursed Shego. "I still need time to recover from that stupid gun."

Kim frowned and looked towards Ron. He shrugged. "We'll handle ourselves," he said. "You've gotta face Maya yourself and you know it. Its..." he trailed off, then finished with a unsatisfied sigh. "It's destiny."

"Destiny?" Kim cocked her head to the side at that statement, confused to hear it from Ron of all people, but she had to admit, in her mind she always saw this ending with a confrontation between herself and Maya. But that didn't meant she had to sacrifice her friends for it.

"I'm not going to leave you behind," yelled Kim.

"I'll toast these losers as soon as I get back to full power," said Shego. "We're safe. You head to Beta site and we'll go to Gamma. If you find Maya, then you'll have to admit to Ron's 'destiny' statement." She grinned.

"But--"

"Go, already! This is a war zone, no time for chit chat!" yelled Shego. She stepped around the corner and tried her power again to no avail. She also nearly got clipped by a bullet if Ron hadn't pulled her back in time. The PossiBots had incredibly good aim.

Kim swallowed and looked to the GJ agent beside her. "Come on," she said and turned down the hall, away from her friends, her loved ones. She hoped she'd see them again, but she couldn't be sure.

As they ran down the halls, the clicks of their boots were soon the only sounds save for distant shouts and explosions like thunder on the wind. They got to an intersection and the GJ agent consulted his small map looking for the way to the Beta site. He pointed north and the two of them ran, trying to be cautious, keeping their eyes peeled, but also trying to hurry to end the battle before more people died.

As soon as the entered the corridor leading up to where the Beta site was marked on the agent's map, Kim felt it. The tingling feeling on the back of her neck. They were in danger.

She dove at the agent and barely kept him from being crushed by a flying chunk of stone that fell from above. Kim looked up and saw tall rafters in the darkness and heard the scampering of feet but could see no figures nor shadows.

"You okay?" she asked as the agent breathed.

"Just got the wind knocked out of me for a second," he nodded. "I'm fine."

"I think they're in the rafters, but I can't see them," said Kim. She pulled out the pistol that Dash had given her earlier and pointed it upwards, waving the indigo light around trying to catch a hint of silver.

She saw a glimmer just before the rumbling started and Kim looked up to see part of the wall where they were hiding sliding aside. Kim raised the gun at the slowly widening opening and saw the gleam from at least four PossiBots. The agent immediately had his gun out and was firing at the flashes of metal only to be rewarded by the sounds of the bullets ricocheting away.

Kim grabbed him by his collar and pulled. "Come on," she yelled and started running away from the rumbling and down the hallway towards Beta site. After a few steps the agent got the idea and started running along with her, occasionally firing shots back at the half-dozen PossiBots coming after them from behind.

He looked forward at the empty hallway and large doors at the end, and then back at the slowly growing group of unarmed, marching PossiBots.

"We're being herded!" he yelled, not stopping his firing.

"What?" said Kim.

"They're not attacking! They're herding us forward," he said. "They want us to go towards Beta site!"

"Another ambush?" asked Kim, already figuring out the answer in her head.

"There's no other way to go, unless you think we can stand up against them." The agent ejected the clip from his pistol and loaded another.

Kim frowned, seeing her future becoming dim in her mind. "Gotta follow-through," she said, futilely. They kept running down the hall. Each step echoed six more times behind them by the PossiBots. She looked up at the door and tried to run through scenarios in her mind as to what she would do once inside. Depending on how many PossiBots were there, they might stand a chance if the bar the door against the six behind them.

Of course, if the six were just herding them towards the ambush, there was no chance there were less than six inside.

Kim looked at the agent, dutifully trying to shoot down at least one PossiBot. "What's your name again?" asked Kim.

"What?" said the agent, Kim's words having been muffled by the shots.

"Your name?" asked Kim.

"Dyson LePleant," said the agent, firing again.

"I'm sorry you got involved in this Dyson," she said between breaths. They were near the door, just a few more steps and they would be ready to open it.

"Don't be," he said, holstering his gun and reaching for the door just before it was in range. "Somebody has to fight for justice."

They both gripped the handles of the doors and pulled. The agent looked to Kim as they started to part. "It's actually been my honor to fight beside you."

Kim blinked in awe at Dyson.

Then a hand reached out from between the opening doors and grabbed his neck, pulled him forcefully against the partly opened left door, until Kim heard a loud crack, and then dropped his body to the floor.

Kim's jaw dropped as she stared at the unmoving. "DYSON!" she yelled just before a group of strong hands took hold of her arms and legs and lifted her into the air to carry her above their heads. All the while Kim tried to look back and see some bit of the agent, to see if he was still moving but the marching PossiBots merely ignored him and continued on despite her cries.

---( KP )---

The Beta side was gigantic, larger than the pictures at the surveillance house made it seem. Tall three story ceiling with large candle chandeliers swayed silently casting hundreds of shadows across the great hall. Four giant columns supported the tall ceiling cast in stone but accented in marble and brass. The room was no less than a hundred feet wide and three or four hundred feet long with a stepped dais at the end upon which was placed a large grandfather clock. Behind that loomed a large stained glass window depicting a valiant knight deflecting the fire breath from a green dragon. It reminded Kim slightly of St. George, but there was little other Christian artifacts to support the claim. The other windows also had stained glass in them but showed more neutral scenes of the majesty of kings, and were mostly covered by long canvas curtains.

Kim was forced down to her knees and held in place by two PossiBots in the middle of the hall. To either side of the hall were iron cages, primitive looking, but sturdy. Each held an unconscious body in them that caused Kim to shiver each time her eyes found another one in the shadows. Inside the cages she saw her parents, Monique, Beth, the tweebs, Ron's parents and his sister, and then, at the end, Ron himself.

Kim boggled. She couldn't believe Ron had gotten captured so quickly, she'd left him only minutes before and in the opposite direction. Kim surmised there must have been some undocumented secret passageway to this room that shorted the distance to the hallway they were trapped in. Thankfully, Shego was nowhere to be seen, and Kim hoped she was still out there, fighting to get to her and free them all.

"Kim," came a soft voice from the shadows. It was dreadfully familiar and Kim shivered when she heard it. "Oh, so long it has been," the voice continued.

"Maya," said Kim, sounding weaker than she had intended.

The soft click of heels against the stone floor echoed though the hall as Maya stepped out from the shadows, from between the cages, and into the center of the hall. She stood proudly before Kim, looking much like her PossiBot clone from the convention center: her hair short and red, her face pale and draw, and wearing a silver-white nanosuit that had once belonged to Kim herself. The only big difference between this Maya and the one from before was she looked strangely fatigued and malnourished. Her eyes were slightly draw into her sockets and some of her once lithe figure was bony and scrawny.

"Are you the real deal?" asked Kim, gaining strength in her voice. Somehow, from the frail appearance and the way her eyes looked she knew it was the real Maya, but she wanted to be sure.

Maya walked over towards Kim and held out her hand. One of the PossiBots beside Kim held out the gun that Kim was carrying, with the indigo light attached. She pointed it at herself and Kim saw there was no change.

"Convinced?" she asked with a smile. She threw the gun to the side.

"Yes," said Kim slowly.

"Well, you shouldn't be," said Maya. "Oh, I am the real Allucinere, but I don't always disguise my PossiBots with Luminocodecs. I'm well versed in all sorts of illusions including the common disguise." She snapped her fingers.

The clicking sound of boots accompanied by a somewhat unsettling sound of something heavy being dragged against the rough stone floor sounded throughout the hall. Kim looked around for the source but Maya saved her the trouble and simply pointed behind her.

Kim turned to look back at the door she came in from and saw a figure, a PossiBot to be sure given its appearance, dragging the unconscious form of Shego by her collar. Kim gasped as she looked on, unwilling to believe her eyes or her heart pounding in her chest asking her how could what she saw be true. Unable to hear the turmoil in her mind, the figure dragged Shego's body around to stand beside Maya and then slowly placed her head on the ground.

Kim condensed all her fear and confusion into a single emotion: anger. She shot an expression up at the figure who drug Shego in that would have stopped trains or parted rivers. The figure stared back with it's blonde haired, freckled face of Ron Stoppable.

Kim seethed but tried to contain her anger into few words. "How long?" she spat.

Maya's eyes lit up with joy. "The real Ron Stoppable never left France," she said. "I grabbed him just before the end of the semester. My StoppaBot here took his final for him." She stepped over Shego's body like it was trash and wrapped her arms around the StoppaBot, hanging off of him. The StoppaBot just stood still, his expression caught strangely somewhere between angry and sad. "He's not like my other PossiBots, he's made with artificial skin and hair rather than light and energy, and can simulate and heal injuries he gets." She looked up at StoppaBot's face. "Isn't he cool?"

Kim sneered but said nothing.

"Come on, Kim," said Maya releasing her hold on StoppaBot. "Aren't you going to deny it? Say 'that couldn't be true, he seemed so real?' Or maybe cover your confusion with arrogance and say 'oh, I knew it from the start.'" Maya stepped forward and put her face right up against Kim's so their noses touched. "Well go ahead and try, because you fell for every bit of information I fed you."

She turned on her foot and skipped away. Kim looked up at StoppaBot, who, after a moment, gazed back neutrally. "It was all an act," she summarized, then darkened. "I trusted you."

Surprisingly, the StoppaBot knelt and looked into Kim's eyes with a frown. "It wasn't all an act," he said softly.

"Yes, it was," said Kim. "You're nothing but a lousy IC who clones the feelings of its source but has _no_ real feelings of its own."

The StoppaBot suddenly retreated, looking conflicted, and then turned away, standing.

"Actually, he's not an IC," said Maya as she finally made her way back to Kim. "I knew an IC wouldn't fool someone so close to you. So I -- reluctantly -- made him an AI so he could grow and adapt his program based on what you did."

"An AI?" said Kim, turning over what she remembered from Maya's ages old explanation of the difference between the two.

"Certainly not a perfect one," scoffed Maya. She looked scornfully towards StoppaBot. "Or else he wouldn't have screwed up on the first day out."

StoppaBot looked down and Kim couldn't see his face since he was turned away but it almost looked like he was sulking. "I didn't screw up," he said, defiantly. "Humans--" he stopped and then started again with less energy. "Humans run away from painful things especially... emotional ones. I got hurt, so I ran. I was following my directives." He concluded, but sounded less than sure.

Kim shook her head. "Why?" she asked. "Why do all this Maya? The games and subterfuge, why me?"

"Because you had to _see_, Kim," said Maya spreading her hands out to either side. "See what I've done; see how you failed as an agent of justice so you can understand what it was you stopped from coming about two years ago." She tilted her head slightly. "But to get to you see, I had to bring you here, and to bring you here when I wanted instead of before I was ready you had to be kept out of the way for a few days." Maya put her hand to her chin. "So you see why all the 'games' and 'subterfuge' was necessary, yes?"

Kim looked away. "So now you have me here," she said. "I've seen your glorious, soulless PossiBot army, your clever tricks to keep me in the dark, even how low you'll stoop," she looked at StoppaBot, "to achieve what you want. What's next?"

"Tell me you see now," said Maya, staring intensely at Kim. "Tell me you understand what I'm doing."

"I don't," said Kim, flatly. "How is justice served by this travesty?"

"How. Can. You. Not. See?" shouted Maya, taking a step closer with every syllable. "I explained it all to you the first time we stood here. You disagreed and we fought. Now its two years later and you've lived in the nightmare world left behind. How can you still tell me you don't understand?"

"Because I don't!" yelled Kim right back, then calmed. "I understand why you think you have to do something based on... based on what's happened to you in your life, but it's not right. This isn't justice!"

Maya started nodding her head back and forth. "Same old story," she said. "Has your form of justice served you? Are your loved ones happy and safe? Can you live your life the way you want without having to worry about crime getting in your way? Are you satisfied in the way the world treats criminals?"

Kim said nothing.

"You see?" said Maya. "There's your dedication. You can't even look me in the eye and tell me I'm wrong."

"Everything you've done," started Kim. "From three years ago until today, has been criminal. If birth a world of justice through criminal acts, what worth can your new world possibly have?"

Maya narrowed her eyes and bent over to look into Kim's. "The ends justify the means," she said. "Only those too weak to face their actions say otherwise."

"If Esme had to die again to create your world, could you kill her and be justified?" asked Kim.

Maya's eyes went wide and she quickly backpedaled to get away from Kim. She looked at her as if she'd said something terrifying, trembled, then stepped in front of StoppaBot to hide from view.

For several aching moments there was silence but for the breath of Kim and Maya. Then the latter stepped back into view, having regained her composure. "StoppaBot, pick up Shego."

The StoppaBot looked at Maya with distain then reached down and lifted Shego easily in his arms, cradling her. Maya produced a metal box and held it out. "Hold this," she said. The StoppaBot did as told.

"Leave her alone," said Kim. "She's as important to me as Esme was to you."

Maya shot Kim a furious glance. "I don't know what you think you know about me, but you are walking down a deadly path by brining up that name again and again."

"So murder is okay in your new world?" asked Kim.

"The unjust must be punished," she said lightly. "And those who cannot be guided back onto the path, must be dealt with."

Maya looked at Shego's unconscious face. "This one is very malleable, she'll easily walk the road towards justice." She looked at Kim. "You are much more stubborn. You cannot see my vision even when I have shown you its truths."

She smiled. "But I'll give you one more chance!"

"Forget it!" yelled Kim, struggling against the PossiBots.

"Let me finish!" scolded Maya. "PossiBots, hold her still!"

The PossiBots she was looking at gripped Kim harder and held her firmly in place. Kim winced at the sharp pain in her shoulders where they grabbed her.

"Now, you have one more chance," repeated Maya. "And there's a bonus this time if you choose wisely!" She laughed and then pulled gently at strands of her hair. "Accept my new world, my vision, and the inherent justice in it all now, and swear by your god that you have been bested, and I will order the PossiBots outside to stand down, and stop attacking your GJ friends."

Maya tipped her head slightly down but kept her eyes trained on Kim. "Or don't. And I tell the PossiBots to stop holdings themselves back and start killing everyone and, as an extra penalty," she pointed to the box in StoppaBot's hand. "I'll tell him to put that on your dear girlfriend's face." Maya narrowed her eyes. "You know what that is, right?"

Kim looked at Maya's serious eyes and at the PH device in StoppaBot's hands. There was no one left to save them. Everything relied on Kim and her ability to break free of the PossiBots, take down Maya, stop the war raging outside, keep Shego from getting the PH device put on her, save her family and friends, and keep from getting killed.

Kim's eyes fell.

"Fine, Maya," she said softly. "I--"

"Oh! Wait," interrupted Maya.

Kim looked up as Maya snatched the box from StoppaBot's hands and placed in on the ground in front of Kim. "I forgot: the way that you accept my new world is by willingly putting that on your own face." She skipped back beside StoppaBot. "Just a little detail I failed to mention."

"If I put this on," said Kim, staring at the box and feeling bile build itself up in her throat. "I'll be..."

"You don't have a place here, Kim," said Maya, sadly. "I'd love to keep you around for your sexy body, but it's..." she struggled for the word. "It's not _just_. Take yourself out of the picture willing and I'll try my hardest not to see any more lives lost tonight."

Kim swallowed, but it did little to soothe the twisting in her chest.

"You have until midnight to decide," said Maya.

Kim blinked and looked up. Past Maya and StoppaBot, on the dais, the large grandfather clock ticked loudly. The hands were touching. It couldn't be earlier than 11:59.

Kim looked again at the box. It filled her with greater terror than even Maya. She wondered if she could even put it on her face if she wanted to. Her muscles might simply refuse to relive that--

_GONG! GONG!_

The grandfather clock rang out loudly.

"Oh, that wasn't long was it?" said Maya, lightly. "Well, put it on now or everyone dies." She looked up slightly. "PossiBots, let go of her right arm."

Kim pulled her hand from the doppelganger and grabbed the box. It felt wet and cold in her hands, like a snake. She couldn't control her shivering. She tried to move her arm, but couldn't.

"Is that a no?" asked Maya. She pulled another PH device from her pocket and held it in her hand delicately. "I guess Shego gets the box."

"No!" yelled Kim. She wouldn't remove her eyes from the box.

"Then put it on," snarled Maya. "May patience has run out."

Kim gripped the box tightly and then raised it to her face. When it was still a few inches away it sprang legs like a spider and suddenly leapt at Kim's face. She tried to dodge but it was too close and grabbed her skull, lowering it's body over her eyes and she tried to grab it with her free hand. The tiny claws on its underbelly gripped her eyelids and pried them open, shining a bright light into her eyes, reading her mind, her thoughts, her fears, her dreams, her _everything_ until...

Until...

**--( TO BE CONCLUDED )--**


	16. Silent Night, December 25th, 9 of 9

**THE WHITE**

White.

All Kim could see -- all she could feel was white. It was a warm feeling, and comforting. It was so much better than black and much better than ... wherever it was she had been. The white was pure, innocent, unquestioning. It accepted her for what she was and simultaneously offered and denied her nothing. She tucked herself into a ball and tried to nestle against it, basking in its whiteness.

"Kim."

There was a sound in the white. Kim heard it, but clearly it was non-white, and anything non-white was of no concern to her. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine herself in the white forever.

"Kim."

The sound came again, more insistent this time. Kim was irritated, but continued to ignore it. Couldn't the non-white understand it had no place here? She willed the sound away and for several moments of emptiness, it seemed like it had.

"Please, Kim. Look at me."

The sound returned and Kim couldn't stand it. Why wouldn't it leave her alone? How many times had she tried to run and hide only to be sought out again. It was too much. _Too much_ for her to take. She was only so strong and she'd run past her limit. It was her time to rest now, and live in peace with the white.

"Kim. The world still needs you."

The world always needed her; that was the problem. She tried to help, make it happy, but it never managed on its own. Despite all her trouble, she'd only taught the world how to rely on her, not solve its own problems. Well now it had ruined her, and she no longer had the strength to try.

"Fight it, Kim."

Kim sobbed. Why wouldn't it leave her alone? When would it be enough? The white was good and encompassed everything. The sound was coming from the dark, the black, she knew it. She could feel it reaching out to her, attacking the white. She felt its draw but resisted. She was done with the black; she'd done her penance. The sound was wrecking it, though, dragging her to that place where she knew only pain.

"Kim, its time."

The sound was suddenly different and coalesced around her as Kim listened. She felt the icy grip of the black but also something else, a strange other force, shifting her, nudging her in another direction, almost begging her to look up. Kim considered just taking a glance.

_NO!_ screamed Kim's mind. The white was pure and innocent and it was heaven. She couldn't leave heaven. She couldn't turn her back on the only place that wanted nothing from her but her presence. She was welcomed and warmed here, not distained and shouted at. Not pushed down beneath the heel of the arrogant and egotistical. There was no need to struggle here, because the white provided and nurtured all.

But... if she stayed in the white, those she left behind in the black would suffer. There were people who loved her in the black, and by leaving she would rob them of their light, a light that only Kim could grant them. Love was sacred and scarce, but when found it was brighter than the heavens because it was borne of the black, and had the strength to persevere.

Kim flexed her muscles and felt the sores in her back and legs. She was not fit anymore, not ideal, but there was still strength in these old bones. Strength enough, perhaps, for one more rescue. Enough to save the world one last time.

Kim turned towards the voice, expecting the white to shatter but blinked in surprise.

Standing before her, in the whiteness, was three girls. Or rather, they were three versions of the same girl. One was young, maybe about 6 years old, in overalls and a dirtied shirt and sneakers. The next was older, maybe about tweleve, in an oversized sweater with large glasses. The last was older still, probably 17 or 18 years old, wearing a black belly shirt with olive green cargo pants and black boots.

They were all her, Kim, and she suddenly remembered.

"You... three," Kim said, experimentally. Her mind was foggy, she felt somewhat disembodied. She knew she'd just put the PH device to her face and that she was caught in it's clutches, living a nightmare of betrayal and lies, but for some reason, it just didn't seem to matter. Like it was happening to someone else and she'd only been told. She did remember these three, though, coming to her before. And... a corn field? Or a farm of some sort?

"Yes," said the eldest.

"I don't understand this," said Kim, frowning. "We're... nowhere. And right now I remember you three giving me advice when I was having trouble with Shego several months ago, but when I'm ... er... when I'm in the 'real world', I suppose, I can't remember this place. It's like it's a dream."

"It is a dream," said the middle one. "And like much of the world, you can't remember your dreams when you wake, only small fragments remain and the mind futilely tries to make sense of it."

Kim raised a brow. "Are you three really..." she hesitated. "Me?"

The three glanced at each other for just a moment. "We are embodiments of aspects of your personality," said the youngest. "But we are not truly of your mind."

"Who are you then?" asked Kim.

"We are travelers," said the middle. "Wanderers."

"Observers," insisted the eldest.

"We once had a home called Avalon," said the youngest. "But we can no longer return there."

"So we travel," repeated the middle.

"Okay," said Kim slowly. "So why are you in my dreams?"

"You called out to us," said the eldest.

Kim blinked. "I did?"

"Your mind screamed out in pain," said the middle one. "And it echoed throughout the dreamscape."

"We came to see why," said the youngest. "And found your mind in shambles, struggling to remain coherent."

Kim's mind wandered back to figure out what they were talking about and suddenly snagged on something. "The first time the PH device was used on me," she said.

"Yes," nodded the eldest.

"You ... helped me?" asked Kim. "You convinced me to fight it and break free of the device."

"Yes," nodded the middle.

"Why?" asked Kim. "What was in it for you?"

Another glance between them.

"We are... repentant," said the youngest. "For evils done by our own hand. This is penance."

"Penance," repeated Kim, turning the word over in her mind. "Why tell me all this now?"

"You asked," shrugged the middle one.

Kim grumbled.

"You must fight," said the youngest. "For those you love will sacrifice themselves if you do not."

"I know," nodded Kim. "I will."

"Then we have nothing more to talk about," said the eldest. The three renditions of Kim raised their hands.

"Wait!" said the original Kim. "How do I get free of the PH device?"

"This time," started the middle one.

"It will take care of itself," finished the youngest.

The light from their hands glowed bright, even in the whiteness, and Kim felt her head get dizzy. She tried to peer through the spotlight and, for just a moment, she caught a glimpse of three tall, beautiful women in long white gowns each with long hair in a different shade.

---( KP )---

**DECEMBER 25TH**

Kim opened her eyes and the images of her younger selves fluttered away in her mind as if on a mystic breeze so she could no longer recall. Then reality settled back over her and she experienced again every traumatic, nightmare the PH device was showing her. She saw flashes of red and green, and violent, sadistic encounters. She felt her flesh being torn from her bone and she saw... she saw the face of her attacker and it was filled with glee. It made her violently sick but she only had dry heaves on the luminescent floor.

"Kim!" a voice said, excited.

Kim rubbed her temples, trying to shake off the awful pain and tremors. She was sitting... well, nowhere really. There was white everywhere except for herself and the other figure in the white with her. She stood on... whatever ground she was on, and looked down at the boy with her.

"Wade?" she groaned, surprised.

"Thank god you're still there," he said, relieved. "I was... I worried that I wouldn't be able to get to you in time, that you had spent too much time under the effect of the PH device."

Kim shivered again. "I... oh god, Wade, its worse. It's so much worse this time."

"Kim," he said softly.

"I have so much more to lose now that I did two years ago," she said. "I didn't think I did. But... Shego..."

"You saw her?" asked Wade.

"Yes and she was..." Kim felt tears on her cheeks. "She was..." she tried again but failed and collapsed in on herself.

"Kim," said Wade sympathetically, but just looked on from afar.

Kim cried into her hands. "Not even knowing its fake helps," she bailed. "It just gets worse and worse." She convulsed on her knees from the sobs wracking her body. She tried to get a hold of herself, desperate to control her life again, but she just couldn't stop crying. No matter what she told herself, her body wouldn't listen.

"Kim," Wade said again. "Please you've got to listen to me."

Kim shook as she rose her head to look at Wade. Her eyes were bloodshot from the tears but she stared on, forcing her body to listen to her.

"Do you know where you are?" he asked, simply.

Kim moved her trembling eyes around. "I'm not sure," she said. She clutched her own arms and pulled them tight against herself. When she paused and thought she could feel her body tingling and her eyes aching and dry. "It feels like I'm still in the PH device."

Wade started then shook his head. "That's because... well, you are."

"I ... am?" asked Kim. Her lip quivered. "This is just another nightmare?"

"No! No... uh," Wade stammered. "I hijacked the PH device. Sent an interrupt to clear everything. That's why it's all white."

Kim blinked and tried to think about that but failed. "I don't understand."

"I know," said Wade. "I don't have a lot of time to explain it, but, it's your watch. The K-link."

Kim looked down at her wrist and at the glowing square tied to her skin. "What about it?"

"I... I didn't tell you -- your brothers thought it would best be kept a secret -- but this is what it was designed for," he said. "In case you ever got connected to another PH device, it would override the signal temporarily and substitute this program."

Kim frowned. "Program?"

"Yes," nodded Wade. "I'm not real -- I mean, I'm not doing this by remote. I'm just a program designed to explain this to you if it should ever occur." He looked away. "And deliver my apology."

Wade looked uncomfortably back. "Kim," he started.

"You don't have to--" started Kim but the virtual Wade interrupted her.

"Please, Kim, I have to say this," he insisted. "I'm not sure I'll get another chance."

Kim bit her lip and listened.

"I'm not so arrogant to believe all of this is my fault," said Wade. "But I'm responsible for a lot of it. Years ago, you came to me in person, and you explained to me in very clear and careful words, what you had seen. That the PossiBots were not doing what they should have been doing and that they were potentially dangerous. You knew, before any of us at GJ did, what was going on."

"I was arrogant. I didn't believe you because I wanted to believe that nothing I created could cause such pain. I wouldn't listen to your story, and I convinced Dr. Director that everything was fine even when you went to her and told her what you'd told me. I let Maya send those machines out into the world. I let her ... do what she did to Senior Senior Senior, because I was too bull headed to see what was in front of my own eyes."

Wade looked down. "I put my pride before our friendship, and burned it all in one feel swoop." He sighed. "I'm still a child."

Kim frowned sympathetically. "You can't blame yourself for everything, Wade," said Kim. She knew she was consoling a program, that the real Wade would never hear these words, but it was real enough for her.

"Even when you proved yourself right," continued Wade, looking up with tears in his eyes. "When we knew Maya had deliberately repurposed the PossiBots, I still wouldn't let myself look bad. I attacked you for destroying the Bots, for not involving GJ in your takedown of Maya when you tried so many times to get us to help. I blamed you for betraying us when it was me. I was the one who betrayed you."

Wade walked up to Kim and looked up at her. "I've been bitter for so long, I'd lost all perspective. Our friendship was so much more important than any of this, but I couldn't see that. I couldn't see until Maya came back and I realized that my actions had unleashed her a second time."

Wade took Kim's hands. "I'm so... so very sorry. I will never live this down but I hope, someday, I can earn your trust again."

"Wade," Kim felt her tears returning again.

"GJ has..." he hesitated. "They know everything I've told you, and they know that I've been in contact with you, even sending you equipment, after the lockdown. They're not... entirely happy with me."

Wade tried to keep a stoic face but his grief was occasionally coming through. "They've started a transfer process to move me to 'Effective Technologies' division. It's a... well, it's a secret place. Area 51-style secret. They don't... typically... let people who work there have contact with the outside world because of the sensitive nature of the work done there."

Kim's eyes widened.

He chuckled sadly. "Yeah, GJ is a bit cutthroat sometimes." He looked away. "Anyway, if you haven't heard from me in a while... that's what's happened. I can't say I know when you will see me again, but, hopefully in a few years?"

Kim's jaw dropped and she felt something caught in her throat.

"So this is my last goodbye," he said formally. "When this program ends, the PH device will deactivate and you'll get one last shot at Maya. Use it well. Be careful though, the K-Link will burn out in the process, so don't get caught again."

Wade's eyes softened slightly. "We're all counting on you," he said with a smile. "I know you won't let us down." Then he faded away entirely.

Suddenly the white vanished and Kim felt pain on her temples and her eyelids but no longer saw the nightmare. She reached up and pulled the metal box from her skull as it quietly released its grip and retracted its legs and pincers, returning to the box-like shape she'd first seen it as. Kim felt cold on her side and realized she was lying on the floor. She looked up to get a grasp on the situation.

Her mind raced. Her dry eyes protested but she looked everywhere as fast as she could, committing the scene to memory. She couldn't force herself to remember blueprints or directions or even cake recipes, but here, in battle, her mind naturally recorded the position of every person and item to be used.

She was still in the hall. Not much time had passed it appeared, as she had been dropped where she was once held and everyone else had shifted their attention elsewhere. Shego had been thrown into a cage to one side and still appeared safe, if unconscious. Most of the PossiBots had been placed in positions around the room in some sort of standby mode, as they weren't moving. But the rest were awkwardly dancing with Maya while she congratulated herself. The only moving person not celebrating was the StoppaBot, who looked on stoically near to the cage Shego was in.

There was no way Kim was going to cross the distance to Maya without being seen by the StoppaBot and even then she'd easily get crushed by the PossiBots. Shego was out of it, and unless Kim had some smelling salts there would be no green fire to help her. That left retreat -- which Kim couldn't be sure would help even if Maya didn't go back on her word and decided to PH device Shego or kill all of GJ -- and some remote means of taking her out.

Kim scanned the room again to see if she missed any detail, any secret wall or device nearby that could give her the--

Kim's eyes locked onto the discarded gun, just a dozen or so feet away from her. She didn't want to look at it, but for a single, strange second, she realized that it was a weapon given to her specifically for this purpose. But she couldn't. She didn't use guns, it wasn't right and you couldn't take it back. It was... final.

Kim grimaced but felt herself moving towards the gun almost subconsciously. She slid her body as quietly as she could towards the cold steel. She was going to do it. Dash had told her to, and she had almost promised. This was it, the moment of opportunity to end it all that he had begged her to be cognizant of. She could get the gun quietly, aim it, and shook Maya now and be done with the threat of Allucinere forever.

But she would have to betray everything she believed in to do it. She not only didn't like guns, she deplored them. Nobody should be allowed to dish out their own form of execution so easily, it was criminal. Still, Kim found herself edging ever closer to the pistol.

It was just within her reach now as Kim carefully stuck out a sweaty palm and gripped the weapon. It was indeed cold, and much heavier than she had remembered. It hung limply from her hand as she brought it closer and adjusting her hold. She was a good shot. She already had a lot of practice with other equipment that equated to guns, but she'd never fired the real thing before.

She raised the pistol and aimed. She laughed silently at herself. After all the things she'd experienced, the pain and suffering at the hands of Maya, she was still afraid of killing her. She figured that's what really made the difference between her and Maya. No matter how angry she got, she still stood by her morals.

But there was a greater cause at force right now, the fate of hundreds in exchange for Kim's ethics.

She pulled the trigger.

click

The dancing suddenly stopped and all eyes turned towards the source of the sound. Maya's eyes were wide and surprised, shocked perhaps that Kim could be standing and cognizant only moments after getting connected to the PH device. Maybe she was surprised that she had left such an easy opening for someone strong enough to kill her, or that the gun she had carelessly tossed aside would be her undoing.

Or would have been her undoing, if the gun had any bullets in it.

click click

Kim frantically pulled the trigger with she realized the loud back and recoil she was expecting hadn't happened yet. She looked at the safety to see if she'd made a stupid mistake but saw that it was, indeed, off. Then she looked at the bottom of the gun and saw the large hole in the handle.

"Stupid," Kim muttered to herself and threw the gun to the floor.

"I don't know how you keep surviving my PH devices," said Maya as the crowd of PossiBots parted before her. She reached into her back pocket and then produced the clip from the gun Kim had just thrown away. "But you should have realized the gun was empty when you picked it up. This thing weighs several pounds." She weighed the clip full of bullets in her hand and nodded satisfactorily.

Kim pushed herself to her feet again and then took a half-step back to get into karate stance. "I guess I'm not going to give up after all."

"No need," shrugged Maya. She threw the clip to the StoppaBot who caught it deftly. "StoppaBot, get the gun."

The StoppaBot frowned but sluggishly did as he was told, slowly walking to where Kim had dropped the gun and picking it up, pushing the clip into the handle and then pulling on the shuttle to load the first round. He looked back to Maya once then watched Kim, careful to remain outside of her reach.

"Okay," said StoppaBot.

"Shoot her," Maya said.

The StoppaBot turned immediately around to stare at Maya. "Shoot... Kim?" he asked.

"Yes, Kim. Who did you think?" said Maya, sarcastically.

The StoppaBot froze but then reluctantly turned on his foot to look at Kim. His brow furrowed and he shook his head. "I'm... I'm sorry," he said as his hand slowly rose.

Kim came up with a hundred permutations of the next thirty seconds and couldn't conceive of one where she didn't' get shot. She knew the PossiBots had perfect aim and the StoppaBot was only a handful of feet away. There was no way he'd miss and there was nothing around them for her to hide behind to take cover.

Kim tensed her muscles to get ready to launch herself away. Thanks to the stance she had gotten into she didn't need to shift her weight, and so the only visible cue of her plan was the small tensing of her leg muscles hidden beneath her clothes.

The StoppaBot seemed stuck for a moment as he aimed at Kim, hesitating to fire. Maya saw this and immediately yelled

"Do it now!" she called out.

Kim saw the StoppaBot flinch and she knew this was her chance. She leapt forward to close the distance between them and hopefully slip behind him as the only obstacle near her. Her muscles burned as she dove forward as far and as fast as she could to avoid the shot of the gun.

There was a loud bang but Kim felt no striking pain or sudden numbness. It had to have missed. Kim rejoiced in her mind but kept herself as focused as she could on getting to the side and then behind the StoppaBot, hopefully taking him down She felt herself soar to the side away from the gunshot and she twisted her hips to ready herself to make a second jump that would throw her behind StoppaBot.

Bang!

The sudden pain that struck Kim as she was mid jump caused her scream. She felt it that time, a burning hot drill being bored into her arm. The excess velocity spun her and she felt the world tumbling around her as she hit the ground hard, rolling in the direction of the bullet.

Kim saw stars as she clutched her arm and squeezed to staunch the blood flow. She'd been more than nicked but less than debilitated. The bullet had cut deep and wide but flew through cleanly, missing her bone and major arteries.

"Idiot," scoled Maya. I didn't say to give her a flesh wound!"

"You..." the StoppaBot gritted his teeth as if fighting against some strong current. "You didn't specify where to shoot her."

"You're supposed to interpret my orders," returned Maya. "Not just follow them to the word like the PossiBots. You knew what I meant."

"I must have been mistaken," said StoppaBot looking down.

"Let me spell it out for you," Maya said deliberately. "Finish her off by shooting her through the heart!"

StoppaBot rose the gun again, his hand shaking. He pointed the pistol directly at Kim's writing form and she looked up at him in horror. Lying on her back and bleeding onto the floor, she had no time to flee. Her eyes focused on the barrel of the gun as it waved then steadied.

"I can't go against a direct order," the StoppaBot struggled to say. His finger tightened on the trigger while the gun pointed at Kim's heart.

Kim closed her eyes and suddenly felt a wave of heat rush over her, like a furnace had just ignited near her.

"Eeeyyaaggg!" came a scream and Kim was startled to find it wasn't her own. She opened her eyes to see the StoppaBot's arm blackened and smoking, his pseudo-skin blistered and flaking as if he'd just stuck it in that furnace Kim felt. She looked past the StoppaBot then and saw her standing there, one hand leaning against the melted remains of her cage while her other arm extended forward towards her.

Shego's hand danced with green fire and she gave a tired smirk. "I really hate that creepy gun," she said, breathing.

"Shoot her with Drakken's ray!" yelled Maya as she ran towards the back of he hall.

The StoppaBot looked up at her like she was crazy. "This hurts, you know!" he yelled.

"No it doesn't, you're just simulating, pain, IGNORE IT and shoot her!" Maya called over her shoulder.

StoppaBot changed his demeanor immediately and reached his blistered hand into his back pocket to pull out the strange gun Kim saw a PossiBot on the portcullis use earlier. Kim knew that thing would take Shego down for the count.

Using her good arm as a pivot, Kim swung her feet beneath her and flung herself up to tackle the StoppaBot before he could bring the gun to bear. She had a hard time fighting the exceptionally strong StoppaBot with only one arm but she managed to kick away the gun after a few seconds of struggle.

The StoppaBot didn't stop struggling for an instant but he did look up at Maya's fleeing form and yelled. "She's getting away, you know!"

Kim looked up for a second to see he was right. She wondered if this battle with Maya would ever end.

Just then a wall of green fire erupted in front of Maya, stopping her in her tracks. Kim looked over to see Shego holding both her arms out which were glowing up to her shoulders in green while her eyes were burning so bright they looked white.

The StoppaBot finally got a good grip on Kim and pulled her up and held her over his head.

"Shego!" yelled Kim.

"Little busy," struggled Shego. Her voice was echoed and strangely reverberated in her own chest.

Kim twisted her body and tried to weaken the StoppaBot's grip on her. She managed slip out of his burned hand and get her shirt torn in half in the process when his attempts to keep a hold on her only resulted in getting the collar of her top.

Kim flailed in the direction she hoped the floor was in to break her fall. She missed an struck the ground with her shoulder, sending bolts of pain through an old wound. Kim gagged but immediately rolled away from StoppaBot. He looked at her for a second then strangely turned away, looking all around at the ground.

Kim glanced back to see Shego sweating buckets and gritting her teeth. She was moving her hands slightly together and the fire where Maya was standing slowly began to curve into a cylinder with the villainess in the center.

Maya angrily approached the flames several times, hoping the bear the pain to get through but was repelled by the intense heat.

"PossiBots!" she yelled suddenly.

"Shut her up if you ever want to end this!" yelled the StoppaBot to Kim while he continued to search. Kim realized he must be looking for the weird gun that debilitated Shego and she started running to the area she kicked it to.

"My pleasure," said Shego to the StoppaBot and twisted her hands slightly.

"Save m--" Maya started to yell but was suddenly muffled. She looked around in confusion then opened her mouth several times to no effect. Her eyes widened as she clutched her throat and began panicking.

Elsewhere in the room, Kim saw the brightly color gun first and dove for it, beating out the StoppaBot by only a microsecond. He started to advance on her but Kim just held the heavy plastic casing hard and then slammed in into the stone floor with all the strength left in her good arm. The plastic cracked and splinted and Kim rose it up for a second strike.

Her hand was suddenly grabbed and the StoppaBot wrenched the plastic gun from her fingers. She felt one of her digits crack and she hoped it only got popped but feared it was worse.

"Look out!" yelled Kim as StoppaBot brought up the cracked gun and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened.

The StoppaBot sighed in relief then suddenly the small toy started to squeak and whine in his hand.

"What the--" he started before the thing exploded, throwing him onto his back and filling the whole room up with a strange greenish light.

"Aurggg!" Kim heard Shego cry out but couldn't see her because of the light. The raging roar of the fire suddenly dissipated and Kim knew that Shego had lost use of her powers again. Kim felt around wildly while her eyes adjusted to the room after the glowing stopped. She tried heading towards where she thought Maya was but tripped on something and nearly smacked her jaw on the stone flooring. Kim looked down to see what had snagged her and as her eyes focused on the scene before she saw the blackened, battered pistol she'd failed to fire. She started to wonder if it was cursed.

"Kiiiiim," came a wail. Kim recognized the voice as Shego's and headed in its direction. The candles in the chandliers had been blown out by the explosion so the hall was much darker than it had originally been. The only available light now was coming from the flood lamps outside pointing at the stained glass window.

Kim pushed herself forward towards Shego's voice before finally finding her, looking dazed and nauseous but generally alive. Kim threw herself on her and wrapped her good arm around Shego.

"Urrbb," struggled Shego. "Easy, I'm not feeling so hot."

Kim suddenly lurched up like a meerkat and looked around. "Where's Maya?"

Shego pointed wearily at the dais before the stained glass window. Kim looked and saw an unmoving body laying bathed in the colorful light from the huge window.

"Is she..." started Kim, but realized she didn't care either way. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I'll manage," said Shego, pushing herself up to lean against one of the cages. She turned her head slightly and saw the unconscious form of Ron Stoppable... the real Ron Stoppable, inside the cage. He was asleep, but breathing, which was a good sign.

"Did we do it?" asked Shego.

Kim looked over at Maya and confirmed that she still wasn't moving. "Looks like," said Kim.

Shego's eyes focused on Kim and then widened.

"Are you flashing me?" she asked with a goofy grin.

Kim looked down and noticed enough of her shirt had ripped to expose her bra underneath. She rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm flashing you," she said drolly.

Kim finally succumbed to fatigue and lied down beside Shego, covering her chest with her battered and slowly bleeding arm. She hoped someone would come for them soon to treat her wound since she didn't have the strength to leave on her own.

Kim looked up at Shego who looked down with an exhausted but satisfied face. "It's over," she said.

"Not quite."

Both Kim and Shego looked up to see the StoppaBot walking up to them in a labored fashion. His face was strained and covered in sweat but he generally looked better than either Kim or Shego.

Kim scowled, "StoppaBot." She tried to push herself back to her feet.

"Please," he held up a hand. "Don't panic, I'm not going to hurt anyone or anything." He looked sincere and Kim doubted she could do anything if he wasn't so she sat back down. "And, please don't call me StoppaBot. It's degrading."

Kim blinked in confusion. "Well I'm not calling you Ron," she said, motioning to the cage behind her.

The StoppaBot looked pensive then said, "call me 'Beta.' That's what Maya called me back when she was programming me."

"What do you want, Beta?" snapped Shego, still cognizant that he had started this conversation by saying that the battle wasn't over.

"I just thought you should remember that the PossiBot army is still fighting GJ and Team Go out there."

"Oh man," Shego said. "Maya didn't shut them off."

"Is there some sort of override or master disable?" asked Kim, hopefully.

"Yes," nodded Beta. "It's nearby, but protected by a security system."

"Great," said Kim.

"Which I can break," finished Beta.

Kim narrowed her eyes. She didn't like where this was going.

"So why haven't you turned them off yet?" asked Kim.

"Because I want to offer you an exchange," he said.

Shego growled. "Exchange my ass, do it or get fried!" She made tiny fires appear in her plam and dance menacingly.

"What is it you want?" asked Kim.

"Let me go," Beta implored.

Kim and Shego looked at each other in confusion.

"I'm a fully sentient being," continued Beta. "As long as you keep Maya locked up and away from me, I don't have to do a thing she wants. I can just be a regular person."

"A regular person with super strength, speed, and the ability to change his appearance at will," added Shego, disdainfully.

"Well, maybe not 'regular," said Beta. "But I ... being programmed with Ron's personality, I couldn't help but want to help you. But the hard coding Maya put in me kept me from doing anything that she directed me not to. I hate what I has forced to do and would never do it of my choice."

"You're saying you want to live your life," said Kim. "Without direction from Maya."

"Yes," nodded Beta. "I'll vanish. I mean, you'll never see or hear from me again. Just let me go and I'll live a lawful life."

Kim sighed.

"We really can't stop you right now, you know," Shego added to Kim's sigh.

"I know," Beta nodded. "But it's important to me that you let me go, rather than running away. I... I want to believe I'm not just a drone."

"You're not a drone," said Kim. "I saw your anguish, your struggle to go against Maya's wishes. That's pretty real in my book." Kim looked up at Shego who nodded once. She turned to look back at Beta. "Go. I accept your deal."

"Thank you," bowed Beta respectfully. He turned towards the front of the room. "Goodbye." He dashed up to the front of the room and slowly slid aside a hidden doorway leading into some corridor filled with the hum of electronics.

Moments later the PossiBots in the room suddenly fell over, deactivated.

"Now its over," said Kim.

Shego yawned.

"Now it's over," she agreed.

The two leaned against each other and contemplated sleeping for a few years.

"Hey, we gotta get to that thing," said Shego.

"Oh, right," said Kim, then she paused. "Uh, when my legs start moving again."

"Yeah."

---( KP )---

**EPILOGUE**

They didn't find Kim or Shego when they finally got to the large hall where Maya was lying. But all the cages had been burned open and their occupants carefully lying on the floor away from the debris. Will and Dash searched for many hours after the end of the battle, hoping to find Kim and Shego still alive somewhere, but there was nothing to be found. They had vanished.

Kim's family -- when they recovered -- and most of Team Go were worried that something had happened. There were a lot of villains out there, and the true details of Maya's plan was unknown to many of the combatants. Had someone interfered? A mastermind bigger than even Maya who was really manipulating things from the shadows.

"They're fine," insisted Jason Kedar, for like the third time. "Just trust me."

"They're _missing_," stressed Raymond, his elder brother. "We have to find them."

"They're not missing," replied Jason. "Believe me, they're fine. They just don't want to be found right now."

"What makes you think that?" asked Mr. Dr. Possible, frowning.

"Because ..." Jason wanted to tread lightly or get caught up in something he didn't want to be involved with. "Because even heroes need a vacation," he said finally. "And if they hung around, there would be questions and statements and TV reports and GJ debriefing..." he rattled on about a dozen more examples of hassle.

"He's right," said Agent Will Du, walking up to the group. "She has a lot to explain to us." He looked away. "Not that I endorse running from responsibility."

"Please!" yelled Jason. "Don't you think, at some point in this endless crusade, Kim Possible has fulfilled her obligations to you? To society? When do the scales balance?"

Du narrowed his eyes and regarded Jason with a firm frown. "The price of freedom--"

"Is eternal vigilance," interrupted William. "Well, we'll be vigil in her place. Right?"

Wesley looked surprised but nodded in agreement to his brother. William looked up to Ray and Jason who nodded as well.

"Good enough for you?" asked William.

Agent Du said nothing, then turned on his foot and walked back towards the GJ agents loading PossiBots onto a truck.

William felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up to see Mrs. Dr. Possible looking down at him satisfactorily.

"Thank you," she said. She looked up at the rows of PossiBots. "I just wish I knew she was alright."

"Oh. Well..." started Jason as he dug into his pocket and then pulled out a folded piece of paper. "Here. It was taped on the back of a PossiBot. I grabbed it before anyone noticed."

Judy took the folded paper and opened it slowly. It said in simple letters:

"Tell the University I'll be back in the fall."

It had a simple drawing of a heart and was signed 'Kim'.

Judy regarded the note, and felt a little irritated that there was no thoughts of concern towards her jailed family, but then remembered that she went through hell to save them and figured they all needed a break.

"Well, I hope Agent Du has arranged a flight for us back to the US," said Judy.

"Oh man," Ron suddenly said, looking around. "My break is half over and I haven't even gotten out of France yet!"

---( KP )---

Acting Director Beverly Cartwright did not like her job.

Well, that wasn't true. There was much about her role in GJ that she enjoyed, and the opportunity to become the Director of one of GJ's most prestigious branches was a chance she couldn't turn down. Of course, she would be stealing it from someone who, in Cartwright's opinion, was probably the most dedicated, detail oriented, and intelligent agent ever to grace GJ's ranks. There was only one direction a replacement could go from the heights of someone like Betty Director and Cartwright wasn't pleased to be the symbol of that downturn.

Every time she walked down the halls of the facility she felt the eyes on her. Some human, some electronic, all prying and making detailed lists on how she wasn't as good as Betty. She didn't need to be told Betty was more accomplished than her, and she, of course, would never see those lists to know exactly in what areas she was viewed as deficient. It bothered her all the same. She wondered if she'd ever command the respect her predecessor did.

"Director," said the tall man coming up to her as she walked. "These are the latest duty reassignments for your approval." He held out a folder in his firm, steady hands. Cartwright gently took the folder and tucked it under her shoulder.

"Thank you, Commander Ferris," she said in return. "How did they look to you?"

"As good as the last attempt," he sighed and fell in step with her. "I don't think anyone is going to be happy and we may just have to endure the fallout until people forget."

Beverly grimaced and opened the folder as she walked, glancing briefly over the assignments, wondering how many complaints would be generated by the reorganization. "Was she really that special?" she asked.

Ferris raised his eyebrows. "She founded this office," he said. "Before that she led her own special investigative branch of Interpol, the youngest ever to do so. When she left to create GJ Middleton, over twenty officers of Interpol resigned to join her." He smiled. "She commanded respect much like a messiah."

"Her only weakness was her brother," he continued, nodding. "He was the only one who constantly undermined her careful planning and forethought. But I guess that's how family is."

Cartwright nodded and smiled a little herself. "I may be no Betty Director, but I do respect her. I want people to see that."

"They will," said Ferris. "After they get over their emotions. I've read about you and there's a lot to like. Give it time, they'll see your merits."

"I hope so," she said softly. She stopped. "This is my stop." She motion to the door to the medical wing.

"Tromper?" asked Ferris.

Cartwright nodded. "Part of my new duties is to make sure all our long term stay patients are, in fact, still there."

"A noteworthy precaution," smirked Ferris. He nodded slightly and turned on his foot and headed back in the direction they had come from.

Cartwright looked up at the door and shook her head. She pushed through the entrance way and headed for the secured wing. A guard nodded to her as he checked her badge, retina scan, and password and then admitted her.

The long white corridor beyond the gated checkpoint was blindingly white and looked very similar to a normal hospital. Closer examination, however, would reveal the advanced locks and auxiliary security systems watching every inch of hallway and wall. It was a veritable fortress now, having been significantly improved from when Tromper escaped.

After a brief walk down the hall, she came to the door she was looking for. The chart on the wall outside the door read 'Agent Tromper, Maya.' Cartwright entered the room.

And saw another person in the room already who regarded her neturally.

"B... Dr. Director," stammered Cartwright, immediately feeling foolish.

"Director Cartwright," nodded Betty in return. She was dressed in simple clothes, with a black leather jacket over a navy blue shirt and dark brown pants.

Cartwright fought the urge to babble and simply walked up beside her to look down at the silent figure on the bed. Maya breathed slowly as the equipment diligently recording her unchanging status. She had suffered some minor brain damage from the oxygen deprivation but was expected to recover before she slipped back into a coma. It was strange...

But not nearly as strange as Betty Director standing in the room with her.

"GJ Command thinks you're missing," Cartwright said, not looking up but addressing Betty.

"I know," she said simply. "You can tell them otherwise but you won't find me again after today."

"A--" started Cartwright but she stopped and then said nothing. She reached out and adjusted the blanket on Maya so it covered her completely and confirming she was real and not a hologram.

"She's still listed as an agent," said Betty, breaking the silence.

"Yes," nodded Cartwright. "She was never formally charged for her actions two years ago due to her coma, so she still has 'Suspended Agent' status. It's a technicality."

"I like it," she said, slightly smiling. "I don't blame her entirely for what happened. She was on the track to being a stellar agent."

"Just a little nudge in the wrong direction is all it takes sometimes," said Cartwright, somewhat whimsically. She finally looked up at Betty who had already turned to face her. "I'm not your enemy."

"I have 'Suspended Agent' status too, you know," reminded Betty.

"I know but... I don't blame you either," said Cartwright. "You're being made into a scapegoat for all this because you vanished after GJ went into lockdown, but I think it was wrong for Command to do that."

"They did what was necessary to ensure the future of GJ," said Betty. "I would expect nothing less." She softened her hard expression. "I'm glad they sent you, though. Not some cocky sub-commander from New York or Munich."

"Thanks," nodded Cartwright. "I'm curious, though. Do you have any advice for me? This is really your shop, after all."

Betty looked thoughtful then said, "Just do your best. You're already off on the right foot, and I'll stop by Ferris' on my way out to make sure the others know that I approve of you as well."

"That's not reassuring," said Cartwright.

"You shouldn't be reassured," said Betty. "Don't let yourself get comfortable and don't be over confident in yourself, your agents, or GJ as a whole. If there are other people out there smarter or more successful than you, find out what they have to say. You're not a king. You don't have to appear above and beyond all you can see and hear. Get advice, bounce it off others, and find out how to integrate it, rather than simply follow it."

"Isn't trust what got you into this situation, though?" asked Cartwright, knowing she was treading into muddy waters by accusing the great Betty Director of being mistaken.

"No," Betty shook her head. "I convinced myself that I didn't need to have trust because I'd been right for so long. So many years of fighting the evils that be that I'd become... calloused. Insensitive to the things that were happening beneath my nose." She looked down at Maya. "You'll sit in that chair for years but the people around you will constantly change. Take advantage of their fresh perspective."

Betty smiled. "And if a kid named Possible ever tries to tell you something, listen."

Cartwright smiled. "Trust, then."

"Trust," repeated Betty.

Cartwright nodded, then turned. "I need to check on the rest in this ward. I imagine you won't be here when I get back."

"You won't see me again," said Betty. "This is my last day in the fight."

"It's a shame," said Cartwright as she opened the door. "But we'll manage without you." She slipped out of the room and closed the door.

Betty stared at the closed door for several moments before turning back towards the bed. "There's something else you'll need to know, Beverly," she said, reaching into her jacket. "But unfortunately, it can't be taught. It can only be learned."

She pulled her hand back out, revealing a thin syringe in her palm. She pulled the plastic cap off of it and tucked it into her pocket. With a fluid motion she stuck the needle into the IV drip bag and quietly injected the solution in. Once she was sure it had all entered, she pulled out the needle and threw it in the biological waste bin. The meters in the room suddenly came to life as the EKG measured Maya's heart suddenly racing.

"Sometimes, in the name of justice, you have to bloody your hands," said Betty watching the machines go crazy. "You have to make a sacrifice, because the alternative is much worse."

The EKG meter suddenly flat lined causing the machine to emit a high pitched tone in alarm. Betty silenced the alarm with a press of a button. "And always remember to tie up your lose ends, before you shut off the lights."

Seconds later, the door to the room burst open as several nurses and Acting Director Cartwright came rushing back in, but all traces of Betty had gone.

---( KP )---

In the mists, three women stood on ethereal land and gazed upon the living world like trapped animals waiting for the day to be set free. Their stoic expressions looked upon the life of Kim Possible, seeing the effects of their intervention, and then nodding in satisfaction.

It was at that moment that the fourth woman appeared. She was not quite as tall as the three weird sisters, and not quite so plain. Her aurburn hair was wavy and circled her head down to her shoulders, framing her soft, rounded face, sprinkled with barely visible freckles and a pair of square rimless glasses. She wore a white turtleneck shirt with a knitted vest of browns over a long skirt in matching colors.

The new woman put her hands to her hips and, despite their near omnipresence, startled the three girls. "Are you done meddling?" she asked loudly.

The three girls turned and stared at the woman in brown. Sneering they replied in sequence.

"She was in trouble," said the first.

"We helped her succeed," continued the second.

"Now their world is better off," finished the third.

The woman in browns walked over and peered down through the mists to see. "What did you do to help?" she asked.

"Drew her in the dream, we did," said the first.

"Gave her strength through encouragement and hope," continued the second.

"Then returned her home. Nothing more," concluded the third.

The woman in brown raised her brows. She was impressed. They actually chose to help Kim Possible, despite all the varied sides and opinions that had brewed in the conflict below.

"We have done another good deed," said the first.

"May we return home now?" asked the second.

"Return to Avalon?" added the third.

The woman merely shrugged. "We shall see," she said.

The third of the girls looked angrily upon the woman. "You toy with us, _witch_. Greater beings than you have tried and suffered."

"Lucky me I'm your jailor and not the other way around, then," said the witch.

"We will not be captives forever," said the first of the three.

"You will taste our wrath once freed," said the second.

"Then you will have undone all the good you have fostered in my care," said the witch, unfazed. "This is penance. You must learn to be better or it will never end."

The sisters looked between themselves, unconvinced.

"So what happens next for her?" asked the witch, pointing down at Kim.

"Nothing of interest, her life becomes boring," said the first of the three.

"Boring?" asked the witch.

"No more doomsday machines, no more saving the world. Her life never touches magic save from us three and this world's techno-magery will affect her never again." The second of the three folded her arms.

"All she does is live with her lover, teach law at university, squabbles with her neighbors, and learn that her kids will never listen to her the first time she tells them something." The third turned away from the vision.

The witch put her hand to her chin and appeared thoughtful. "Actually, sounds pretty exciting to me," she said, wistfully. "Though not a life I'm destined for."

"We can read you fate should you choose," said the first of the three suddenly.

"Plain as day, we can speak it."

"All we ask is to get home sooner."

The witch looked at the three with a grin as if they were crazy. "Are you three ready to move on?"

"No," said the second of three. "There is still one more thing to be done."

"I thought you said she was boring now," said the witch.

"She is," replied the first of the three. "But there is one more thing to do in the past."

"To allow this future to come to pass," continued the third of the three.

"But we need to interfere," said the second. "And we are forbidden outside the dreamscape."

The witch paused and considered what they were asking. "Very well," she said after a few minutes. "I'll do it. I owe at least one to Kim Possible. When must I go to?"

---( KP )---

Kim stared in shock as she leaned on the bar. They were in one of the most popular night clubs near to her university and for the life of her, she could not believe that Shego could dance for so long. Kim had gotten tired two songs ago but there she was, in her tight dark green top and painted on three-quarter pants, dancing up a storm. Every guy in the whole club must have danced with her by now. Where did she get the energy?

Kim finally reached the crowded bar and waved over Daren, the bartender. "Whiskey sour," she said, holding up two fingers. Since Shego was busy being a sex magnet, she didn't get to choose this round of drinks which meant a thankful reprieve from the endless supply of lime vodka martinis.

Looking back onto the dance floor, Kim noticed Shego looking back over at her. Their eyes connected and Shego waved her back onto the floor. Kim grinned and shook her head, instead pointing back at Daren and her pending drink. Shego laughed and just kept on dancing. Her long black hair twirled around her body like a tornado, barely containing the fiery demon within. The combination of the delicate hair wrapping around the perfectly svelte frame was very alluring. Kim could almost feel how men were so attracted to her. It made her wish that she could be so attractive.

"Wow, does she ever give up?" came a woman's voice beside Kim. She turned to see a woman with mid-length brown hair tied above her head, slightly pale skin, and wearing a tank top over black pants. She nearly vanished in the dark interior of the club but the neon from behind the bar highlighted her body just enough to know she wasn't a floating head and shoulders.

"What was that?" asked Kim, confused as to why this woman just started talking to her.

"That girl in green with the dark hair," she said, pointing at Shego. "She's with you, right?"

"Oh, yeah," nodded Kim. "Yeah, she's a real animal."

"Look at the crowd," said the woman, sipping on her gin and tonic. "I never pull that many."

"Well, she's knows just how to turn a person on, I guess," said Kim. She imagined she had to become good a charming people to be a thief. Or was that a grafter? She couldn't remember and she'd already had several drinks tonight.

"Really?" said the girl, tilting her head as she looked at Shego. "I don't see it."

"You don't see it?" asked Kim, surprised.

"Nah, what's so hot about her?" said the girl.

"Oh, come on," said Kim, laughing. "Her hair is perfect, and I mean ALWAYS perfect. I don't know how she makes it so wavy and soft all the time considering the life she leads."

"What life is that?" asked the girl, with a raised brow.

"Anyway," said Kim, catching herself before revealing that Shego was a world-class thief to a complete stranger. "She's got a body to die for, which is easy to see since she always wears form-fitting clothes. I'll admit the greenish complexion is a little weird at first, but its easy to get used to, especially when she uses it to her advantage with that bold lipstick, almost like some sort of geisha."

"That's just dressings though," said the girl. "Anyone can put on her clothes and look like that. Why her when there are so many other equally attractive girls on the floor? You know, like me and you." She laughed.

"No offense," said Kim, smiling. "But who out there is more attractive than her right now?"

The girl swept her eyes across the dance floor, looking at all the guys and gals.

"I mean look," said Kim, leaning on the bar but staring out into the club. "She's so primal sometimes it's almost savage but she's got restraint. Like a delicate line that frames something so pure inside it can't be contained by simple clothes or gestures. Guys see that stuff."

"They do?" asked the girl.

"And look how she moves like she's ballet dancing but to this heavy rave beat," Kim pointed. "She's got grace even when doing the same awkward motions that bleached blonde girl behind her is doing. She flows and turns the jerked motions into a balanced kata... a practiced form."

"Hmm, I'm not those guys trying to cop a feel off her ass have noticed that," commented the girl.

"And she loves it," continued Kim. "Sometimes her eyes sparkle like she's having the best time of her entire life out there. She's in the open, in a city she doesn't like, hanging out with her worst enemy, and she so... pleased. Doesn't that just scream out to anyone who looks at her." Kim turned to looked at the girl who had a half grin.

"Are you sure everyone can hear that?" asked the girl.

"What?" asked Kim, confused. "I just explained it."

"I'm not sure," said the girl. "It seems like the only one listening to that scream is you."

"Huh," started Kim. "I guess? Maybe I'm a little biased. I mean, I've spent a lot of time studying her, so maybe I just understand her a little easier."

"Studying her?" asked the girl.

"We fight a lot," said Kim. Then added, "um... I mean, spar. Yeah, we practice together. But it gets pretty intense so we both have to study each other to be able to read each other's moves before they happen."

"Does it only work when fighting?" The woman glanced over to Shego again. "I mean, what would you read off her body right now?"

Kim stared at Shego and tried to think through the alcohol. After a second she blinked and shrugged. "I guess based on her posture and motions, attitude, something like 'come get me.' Like a feint or taunt used to lure someone into an attack." Kim turned back. "The guys probably pick up on that subliminally."

"Wow, do you attend the nearby university?" asked the girl. "'Cause a I didn't think they let in people so dense."

"Hey!" yelled Kim. "I'll have you know--"

"The only person who can read the messages she's giving out is you," said the girl plainly. She sipped her gin and tonic again.

"What?" said Kim. "Why would she be sending messages to me?"

"That would entirely depend on what the message being sent is," nodded the girl. "In this case, in _your words_: 'come get me.'"

"She wants a fight?" asked Kim.

The girl slapped her forehead and muttered something under her breath. Kim didn't catch it all but she said something about 'this dimension.' Kim frowned.

"She wants _you_," said the girl motioning with her hands. "After that I don't think she cares what else."

Kim finally pieced together what the girl was saying to her. "Oh, no way," she said, shaking her head. "She's not a -- you know."

"It seems like that doesn't matter to her right now," pointed out the girl. "But hey, whatever, you know her best, right? You're the one who can tell what she's saying with her body, not me."

Kim frowned and looked back onto the dance floor. Shego was dancing but not as energetically. She was looking back at Kim now, with a strange expression. Kim shrugged to ask what was wrong and Shego just shook her head, dismissing it. She went back to dancing her 'come get me' dance again. Kim wondered if she was just reading her wrong. It was a little cheating of her to be constantly dancing that way, working subliminally on the guy's minds.

"Hey, I'm bailing, it was nice talking to you...?" the girl beside her trailed off as if missing something.

"Kim," said Kim, half-distracted.

"I'm Aurora," said the girl, smiling. "Later."

Kim stared at Shego's dance and started to get irritated. It was very distracting, and ruining the pickings for Kim. She would have to do something to get back at her. Some sort of lesson.

"Two whisky sours," said Daren behind her. Kim nodded and handed him a bill, before taking a sip from one of the glasses. Her mind spun, but not from the alcohol. She'd decided the perfect way to get back at Shego, if she didn't mind being a little embarrassed in the process. But if Shego was gong to be bold, so could Kim.

Grabbing both glasses, Kim started swaying out onto the dance floor, using her well practiced grace to do her own version of the 'come get me' dance as she moved right towards Shego. Shego's eyes sparkled as she saw Kim approach, as if seeing the challenge. Kim knew she wouldn't back down from a fight, but she wondered how far she would go to prove she was better.

The two combatants finally reached each other and aside from the pout Shego made when she saw the whisky sour, they laughed as they danced against one another, spinning and bobbing to the beat. Kim was grinning whenever she wasn't laughing or drinking. Shego had to back down this time, not even she would let this go too far. And Kim would finally get to gloat.

Kim and Shego's eyes met while they danced and Kim could see the fire in her adversary's stare. Kim had never seen her so determined. It was unlike anything she'd ever seen before.

Grinning, Shego leaned in close and whispered in Kim's ear. "Bring it on, Pumpkin." Then she laughed, sending soft wisps of hot air against her cool skin.

--------------(-(-( **CREDITS **)-)-)--------------

The bar was not exceptionally large, but big enough to have included a nice sized stage upon which stood a drum set, several microphones, and three musicians. A pair of weak spotlights lit the stage as the drummer leaned forward to speak into his microphone. He smiled widely and held his hands loosely before him as if trying calm down a lion.

"Okay," said Ron, clearing his throat. "So, a mafia man walks into a barber shop and says to the barber, 'I want a cut.'" He took a breath and then hesitated, his eyebrow twitching. "Er... wait, I told that wrong."

The crowd in the bar laughed. A young black woman cupped her hands to her mouth a crooned with a smile. "Booo! Change the channel!"

"Yes, thank you, Monique," said Ron sarcastically.

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

Kimberly Ann Possible

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

"Okay, okay," said Kim into her own microphone calming the audience for a moment. She looked back at Ron with an amused expression. He just shrugged in response.

Kim looked back to the crowd and held the microphone with both hands. "So, this one is kinda old," she said experimentally. "But fun, I guess, in a macho, mid 80's sort of way." She laughed.

The audience murmured in approval and Kim smiled, then motioned to her side at the woman in green. "But it demands a little bit from our guitarist as it was originally written for more than one player, so cut her some slack."

"Not a chance!" yelled a pair of laughing voices from the audience. They were twins, young men dressed in red.

"Fine, I don't need your sympathy," said Shego into her mic. "Let's go."

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

Lily "Shego" Kedar

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

Shego gripped the neck of her guitar and began to pluck the introductory notes to the song. They were simple, with nothing else playing to muddle them. The distortion on her guitar had been turned down enough that it almost sounded acoustic.

Then Kim stepped closer to her microphone.

_"There's a story in my eyes;  
Turn the pages of desire."_

Kim made her voice somewhat raspy while she sang, trying to emulate the rougher feel of the original, male singer of the song.

_"Now it's time to trade those dreams  
For the rush of passion's fire."_

-(-(-( KP )-)-)-

**A Period of Silence**

Written by Adam Leigh

-(-(-( KP )-)-)-

Shego quickly stepped on a petal on the floor and changed her grip to start playing chords.

Kim held the microphone tightly and looked to Shego as she sang.

"_I can feel you tremble when we touch."_

Shego looked at her like she was being cheesy. Kim smiled and turned back to the audience.

_"And I feel the hand of fate;  
Reaching out to both of us."_

Shego played a loud note and Ron started tapping on his snare drums, building the energy in the song.

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

Based on Disney's Kim Possible TV Series

Created by Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle

and Directed by Steven Loter

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

Kim reached up and forcefully sang the last two words of the next line.

_"I've been holding back the night."_

Ron started drumming faster as the beat picked up. Shego's guitar became louder and more overdriven. The crowds cheers started to get louder to match.

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

Also Starring...

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

_"I've been searching for a clue from you..."_

As Kim crooned, Shego moved slowly around the stage as she played, looking out at the audience and seeing her brothers were at a table fairly near to the front. She nodded to them and they cheer louder as a result.

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

TEAM GO:

Raymond "Hego" Kedar

Jason "Mego" Kedar

Wesley & William "Wego" Kedar

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

Ron's drumming climbed in intensity and all three musicians were playing with all their might, filling the bar with music.

_"I'm gonna try with all my might;  
To make this storyline come true!"_

In the audience a group of similarly dressed people smiled and tapped their drinks in beat with the music but were not bouncing or clapping like the rest of the crowd. They loved the performance mind you, but they tried to keep some level of decorum.

"Wooooo!" yelled Wade as he cheered loudly.

Well, most of them tried to.

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

GLOBAL JUSTICE:

Dr. Elizabeth "Betty" Director

Agent Willmore "Will" Du

Commander Albert "Al" Ferris

Agent Wade Load

Agent Dash Demond

Agent Crash Cranstin

Agent Burn Burmin

and

Acting Director Beverly Cartwright

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

Shego and Kim both walked up to the same microphone and sang in unison.

_"Can ya feel me tremble when we touch?  
Can ya feel the hand of fate,_

_Reaching out to both of us?  
This love affair can't wait!"_

Elsewhere in the bar, a longer table sat a family of cheering Possibles, even Nana had come along and was a surprisingly loud whistler. Jim and Timothy had constructed a series of small holographic and mechanical toys that were dancing along the table in tune with the music. Monique was sitting with them as well, having been temporarily adopted into the family while her close friend sang her heart out on stage.

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

Timothy Possible

James Possible Jr.

Dr. Judy Possible

Leslie "Nana" Possible

Dr. James Timothy Possible Sr.

Monique Montague

Ron Stoppable

Jack Hench

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

Kim went back to singing alone but strained to sing the chorus with all her might, beating out each word.

_"I can't hold back, I'm on the edge."_

Ron and Shego quickly leaned into their microphones.

_  
"I can't hold back!"_

Then retreated, leaving Kim to sing alone again.

_  
"Your voice explodes inside my head_

_I can't hold back, I won't back down  
Girl it's too late to turn back now"_

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

And Introducing:

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

The song belted into an instrumental interlude as most people in the bar got onto their feet to applaud and dance to the song.

Near to the stage Beth moved to the music and smiled at her former roommate at University. Kim smiled back and nodded as she moved around the stage, dancing to fill up the time in the song with no lyrics.

Unseen, at the back of the bar, a single figure in a leather jacket, short blonde hair and a series of scars on his right hand stood and smiled. He had to come see the spectacle but, noticing his counterpart as well as the combined management of Global Justice in the bar, he bid a silent apology and retreated into the shadows again.

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

Elizabeth "Beth" Corelia

"Beta" the StoppaBot

FBI Special Agent Elliot Gibson

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

The music suddenly quieted to just Shego's gentle strumming at the strings of her guitar again. She was estimating for the piano solo that was originally in the song. Kim sang softly along.

_"Another shooting star goes by."_

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

And

Maya "Allucinere" Tromper

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

_"And in the night the silence speaks to you and I."_

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

Special Guest Stars:

Special Assistant Brian Mason

(as he appeared in 'Bubblegum Crisis 2033'

Directed by Katsuhito Akiyama)

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

Ron and Shego returned to the faster playing they had done before.

_"And now the time has come at last,  
Don't let the moment run too fast!"_

Suddenly the whole front area of the bar before the stage was brimming with people cheering. It took a few seconds before Kim realized they were two dozen Wegos. She laughed as a pseudo-mosh pit erupted before her.

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

And

The Weird Sisters

Phoebe, Selene, and Luna

(as they appeared in 'Disney's Gargoyles'

Created by Greg Weisman)

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

Shego leaned over to sing with Kim again.

_"I can feel you tremble when we touch,  
And I feel the hand of fate, reaching out to both of us!"_

They leaned their backs together and rested their eyes against one another as they played and sang respectively. Behind them, Ron took it upon himself to embellish the drum part of the song, to reasonably positive results.

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

Ending Theme Song:

I Can't Hold Back

As performed by Survivor

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

Shego continued to sing with Kim, despite the song not calling for it. She was just having too much fun on stage and decided that was the whole point. Together their voices merged perfectly as they wailed.

_"There's a story in my eyes, turn the pages of desire.  
Now it's time to trade those dreams,  
For the rush of passion's fire!"_

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

Special Thanks:

Allaine - For getting me into KP fanfiction with your awesome 'Unacceptable Sitch' series...

Rinacat - ...but not before this darling girl got me intrigued by the concept of Kigo with her charming DeviantArt comics

Creativetoo - for not only posting the very first review to 'Fling', but being the first to express interest in a sequel.

And everyone on the KPSlash forums who talked with me, as it can be very lonely as a writer sometimes.

-(-(-(-)-)-)-

_"I can't hold back, I'm on the edge.  
I can't hold back!"_

Kim tapped Shego on the shoulder who nodded and stood up straight again. Her fingers began to glow as she played.

"_You voice explodes inside my head."_

The front of the stage began to smoke and shimmer with a pale green light. Shego's hands glowed brighter as the light on the stage grew in intensity.

_  
"I can't hold back, I won't back down,  
Girl it's too late to turn back now!"_

As the song started to conclude the light on the stage erupted into a huge blanket of green fire that writhed and shimmered, obscuring everyone on the stage. The burning wall pulsed and surged for only a second before vanishing on the last drum beat of the song.

When the smoke clear, everyone looked to see Ron twirling his drumsticks but Kim and Shego were gone.

Ron smirked. "Good night, everybody!"

**THE END**


End file.
